Smart current attenuator for energy conservation in appliances

ABSTRACT

An appliance network having a first networked appliance, an energy controller, at least one of a smart dimmer and smart adapter, and a communication network coupling the first networked appliance, energy controller, and the at least one of the smart dimmer and smart adapter for communication therebetween.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation-in-part of International ApplicationNo. PCT/US2006/022503, filed Jun. 9, 2006, which claims the benefit ofU.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/595,148, filed Jun. 9, 2005,both of which are incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to components and accessories for a communicatingappliance.

2. Description of the Related Art

Household appliances typically comprise one or more componentsresponsible for the electromechanical operations of the appliance. Forexample, an oven can include an appliance management component having aprinted circuit board (PCB) with memory, as well as a user-interfacecomponent, such as a control panel or keypad, for a user to issuecommands to the oven. As another example, a washing machine can includean appliance management component, a user-interface component, and amotor control component that controls a motor of the washing machine.

Typically, discrete circuits couple the internal components of anappliance, with each discrete circuit responsible for individualcommunication between related components. The circuits communicate witheach other over an internal network that traditionally is implemented byhard-wired ribbon cables or other connectors or harnesses between thecomponents. The hard-wired connectors form a closed system or networkthat is difficult or not possible to modify. For example, because theclosed network relies on hard-coded or hard-wired network solutions, itis not practical to couple additional external components or additionalinternal components to the appliance to expand the capability orfunction of the appliance. The closed network cannot easily be adaptedfor communication with the additional external/internal components andtherefore limits the potential of the appliance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An appliance network has an energy controller, at least one of a smartdimmer and smart adapter, and a communication network coupling theenergy controller, and the at least one of the smart dimmer and smartadapter for communication therebetween.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a clock accessory for a communicatingappliance according to one embodiment of the invention, wherein theclock communicates a time to appliances following powering theappliances down and up.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a clock accessory for a communicatingappliance according to another embodiment of the invention, wherein theclock functions as an amplifier and/or a wireless access point.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a clock accessory for a communicatingappliance according to another embodiment of the invention, wherein theclock comprises a display for communication with a user of thecommunicating appliance.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a clock accessory for a communicatingappliance according to another embodiment of the invention, wherein theclock communicates a time to other appliance to synchronize the timeamong the appliances.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a clock accessory for a communicatingappliance according to another embodiment of the invention, wherein theclock on one appliance requests a time from a clock on another applianceto synchronize the time among the appliances.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a cooking aid accessory in the form of acontrolled stirrer according to one embodiment of the invention for usewith a communicating appliance.

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of a cooking aid accessory in the form of aningredient dispenser according to one embodiment of the invention foruse with a communicating appliance.

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of a cooking aid accessory in the form of asensing cooking vessel according to one embodiment of the invention foruse with a communicating appliance.

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of a cooking aid accessory in the form of aremovable cooking vessel sensor according to one embodiment of theinvention for use with a communicating appliance.

FIG. 10 is a schematic view of an operation cycle component according toone embodiment of the invention for use with a communicating appliance.

FIG. 11 is a schematic view of the operation cycle component of FIG. 10coupled with a main controller of a communicating appliance.

FIG. 12 is a schematic view of a consumable and a consumable readeraccording to one embodiment of the invention for use with acommunicating appliance.

FIG. 13 is a schematic view of a connection assembly according to oneembodiment of the invention for use with a communicating appliance andan energy controller.

FIG. 14 is a schematic view illustrating remotely servicing acommunicating appliance according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 15 is a schematic view illustrating self-servicing a communicatingappliance according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 16 is a schematic view of a network binder according to oneembodiment of the invention for use with a communicating appliance.

FIG. 17 is a schematic view of a remote user interface according to oneembodiment of the invention for use with a communicating appliance.

FIG. 18 is a schematic view of an appliance monitor integrated into acommunicating appliance according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 19 is a schematic view of a remote appliance monitor according toone embodiment of the invention for use with a communicating appliance.

FIG. 20 is a schematic view of a smart cable according to one embodimentof the invention for use with a communicating appliance.

FIG. 21 is a schematic view of a smart wireless connector according toone embodiment of the invention for use with a communicating appliance.

FIG. 22 is a schematic view of a central collector according to oneembodiment of the invention for use with a communicating appliance.

FIG. 23 is a schematic view of a local collector according to oneembodiment of the invention for use with a communicating appliance.

FIG. 24 is a schematic view of a sales demo accessory according to oneembodiment of the invention for use with a communicating appliance.

FIG. 25 is a schematic view of a cellular phone according to oneembodiment of the invention for use with a communicating appliance.

FIG. 26 is a schematic view of an audio communication accessoryaccording to one embodiment of the invention for use with acommunicating appliance.

FIG. 27 is a schematic view of a network of appliances and clientsconnected on multiple networks by couplers.

FIG. 28 is a schematic view of a source of information about resourcesconnected to an appliance through two couplers.

FIG. 29 is a schematic view of a network of appliances and clientsconnected on multiple networks by couplers.

FIG. 30 is a schematic view of an over-molded smart cable comprising anembedded smart device according to one embodiment of the invention foruse with an appliance.

FIG. 31 is a schematic view of a smart cable comprising a discrete smartdevice according to one embodiment of the invention for use with anappliance and an external device.

FIG. 32 is a schematic view of a smart cable comprising a discrete smartdevice and smart device connectors according to one embodiment of theinvention for use with an appliance and an external device.

FIG. 33 is a schematic view of a combination smart wireless coupler andsmart cable according to one embodiment of the invention for use with anappliance and an external device.

FIG. 34 is a schematic view of a smart device according to oneembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 35 is a schematic view of a source of information about resourcesconnected to an appliance with a smart coupler directly coupled to anappliance connection element.

FIG. 35A is schematic view of a source of information about resourcesconnected to an appliance by a combination

FIG. 36 is a schematic view of a source of information about applianceoperation connected to an appliance through a smart coupler.

FIG. 37 is plan view of a alternate embodiment of a network binderaccessory according to the invention.

FIG. 38 as another embodiment of the network binder accessory of FIG.37.

FIG. 39 is a schematic view of a smart circuit attenuator according tothe invention.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

By employing a software architecture that enables facile communicationbetween internal components of an appliance and between an externalcomponent and one or more of the internal components of the appliance,various components and accessories can communicate with the appliance toexpand the capability, functionality, and usability of the appliance.The appliance can be any suitable appliance, such as a householdappliance. Examples of household appliances include, but are not limitedto, clothes washing machines, clothes dryers, ovens, dishwashers,refrigerators, freezers, microwave ovens, trash compactors, andcountertop appliances, such as waffle makers, toasters, blenders,mixers, food processors, coffee makers, and the like.

The appliance can be configured to perform a cycle of operation tocomplete a physical domestic operation on an article. Examples of thephysical domestic operations include a food preparation operation, afood preservation operation, a fluid treatment operation, a cleaningoperation, a personal care operation, a fabric treatment operation, anair treatment operation, and a hard surface treatment operation. The airtreatment operation can comprise, for example, air purification, airhumidification, air dehumidification, air heating, and air cooling. Thefood preparation operation can comprise, for example, food cleaning,food chopping, food mixing, food heating, food peeling, and foodcooling. The food preservation operation can comprise, for example, foodcooling, food freezing, and food storage in a specialized atmosphere.The fluid treatment operation can comprise, for example, fluid heating,fluid boiling, fluid cooling, fluid freezing, fluid mixing, fluidwhipping, fluid dispensing, fluid filtering, and fluid separation. Thecleaning operation can comprise, for example, dishwashing, fabricwashing, fabric treatment, fabric drying, hard surface cleaning, hardsurface treatment, hard surface drying, carpet cleaning, carpettreatment, and carpet drying. The personal care operation can comprise,for example, hair treatment, nail treatment, body massaging, teethcleaning, body cleaning, and shaving.

The internal components of the appliances can include any component thatparticipates in the operation of the appliance. Some of the internalcomponents have a corresponding controller (main controller, motorcontroller, user interface, etc.), which can be a simple microprocessormounted on a printed circuit board, and other components that have nocontroller. The components can comprise one or more devices that arecontrolled by the controller. Typically, the controller components incooperation either directly or indirectly, through other components,control the operation of all of the components and the associateddevices to implement an operation or cycle for the appliance.

The software architecture can be implemented on and communicate over aninternal communications network on the appliance. The internalcommunications network connects the various internal components of theappliance and can be considered a closed network. One example of theinternal communications network used within the appliance is the WIDEnetwork protocol, created by Whirlpool, Inc., the assignee of thepresent patent application.

The software architecture expands the communication ability of theappliance by effectively creating an open network, hereinafter referredto as “network.” Within the appliance, the software architecture can,but does not have to, reside on each of the components that have acontroller. Those components with the software architecture form anetwork node that can communicate with the other nodes.

The software architecture can perform multiple functions. For example,one function can relate to identifying each of the componentscorresponding to a node on the network, while another function canrelate to identifying capabilities or functions of the identifiedcomponents on the network. Yet another exemplary function is to identifythe status of the components on the network. In this way, the softwarearchitecture can function to inform all of the nodes on the network ofthe presence, capabilities, and status of the other nodes.

The software architecture can comprise multiple modules, each of whichhas different functionality. Various combinations of the modules or allof the modules can reside on each of the components. One module having abasic or core functionality resides on all of the components. In oneanticipated configuration, all of the modules reside at least on themain controller, which establishes the main controller to function as aprimary or main software architecture, with the other nodes functioningin a client relationship to the main software architecture. In such aconfiguration, all of the nodes can communicate through the mainsoftware architecture. The software architecture can be sufficientlyrobust that it can permit configurations without a main softwarearchitecture or with multiple main software architectures. For example,the controllers of the various components can work together to controlthe operation of the appliance without any one of the appliancesfunctioning as a main controller. Regardless of the configuration, anycomponent with the software architecture can function as a client withrespect to the other components.

Because of the software architecture, the internal components of theappliance are not only connected with one another, but the internalcomponents can also be connected to one or more external components or anew internal component through the network. The external componentand/or the new internal component has one, some, or all of the softwarearchitecture modules in resident. As a result, the external componentand/or the new internal component can communicate with the internalcomponents of the appliance and can also communicate with other externalcomponents having the software architecture.

The software architecture can be any suitable software architecture thatenables communication between the internal components of the applianceand the external component and/or the new internal component or betweencomponents external to the appliance. An example of the softwarearchitecture is disclosed in Patent Cooperation Treaty PatentApplication No. PCT/US2006/022420, titled “SOFTWARE ARCHITECTURE SYSTEMAND METHOD FOR COMMUNICATION WITH, AND MANAGEMENT OF, AT LEAST ONECOMPONENT WITHIN A HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCE,” filed Jun. 8, 2006, andincorporated herein by reference in its entirety. A related example isshown in priority document U.S. Patent Application No. 60/595,148, filedJun. 9, 2005. All of the communications between components andaccessories and/or any combination of components and accessoriesdescribed in this application can be implemented by the software andnetwork structures disclosed in either of these applications.

The software architecture disclosed in the aforementioned references canbe implemented by providing one or more of the software elements of thesoftware architecture at least on each of the components to becontrolled and on the accessory. The software architecture is configuredto generate a plurality of messages, with at least one of the softwareelements residing in each of the components and in the accessory andconfigured to enable transmission of at least one of the plurality ofmessages between the components and between the accessory and thecomponents. The messages can be transmitted for bi-directionalcommunication between components and/or components and accessory. Themessages can include command messages that are used to implement aphysical domestic operation cycle of the appliance.

The messages can be generated by a message generator, which can take theform of the software architecture, the accessory, or a component. Onepossible message generator is a user interface.

Descriptions of several examples of components and accessories, hereinafter referred to as “accessory” with it being understood that theaccessory can be considered a component on the network, for use inconjunction with the appliance having the software architecture follow.The accessories can be external to the appliance or internal to theappliance. Each of the accessories is enabled with the softwarearchitecture whereby the accessory establishes a node on the network oris part of an existing node on the network.

One example of the accessory is a clock. In one embodiment, the clock isexternal to the appliance and is an atomic clock. For example, theatomic clock can be a wireless atomic clock that can communicate withone or more of the appliances. An illustration of this embodiment isshown in FIG. 1, where a clock 10 can communicate with a first appliance12 in the form of an oven and a second appliance 14 in the form of amicrowave oven.

The clock can acquire an official time via any suitable method, such asfrom a cellular network, a radio network, or the Internet. The clock canthen transmit the official time to the appliance(s). For example, theclock can automatically transmit the official time, transmit theofficial time based on registered time events (i.e., transmit theofficial time at predetermined intervals to appliances that haveregistered for the time events), or transmit the official time uponrequest from one or more of the appliances.

An example of transmitting the time is shown in FIG. 1. The clock 10communicates with the first and second appliances 12, 14 on the networkand asks for identification of the appliances that have clocks. Thefirst and second appliances 12, 14 both respond by informing the clock10 that the first appliance 12 and the second appliance 14 each have aclock and provide corresponding addresses for the respective clocks. Anevent occurs where the first and second appliances 12, 14 are powereddown (i.e., off) and up (i.e., on) such that the time on the first andsecond appliances 12, 14 is no longer set. The clock 10 then transmitsthe official time to the clocks of each of the first and secondappliances 12, 14, and the clock 10, the first appliance 12, and thesecond appliance 14 all display the same official time.

The clock can also function as an amplifier to boost a signal providedby the appliance to a destination appliance or as a wireless accesspoint that can transmit a signal provided by the appliance to adestination appliance. For example, the appliance can have a radio thatis not sufficiently strong to provide visibility to the destinationappliance but is strong enough to provide visibility to the clock. Theclock can receive the signal from the appliance and re-broadcast thesignal to a destination appliance or to another appliance that cantransmit the signal to the destination appliance, and so on. The clockcan amplify the signal prior to or while re-broadcasting the signal, orthe clock can simply re-broadcast the signal. An example of utilizingthe clock in this manner is illustrated in FIG. 2. The first appliance12 in the form of the oven has visibility to the clock 10 and sends asignal to the clock 10. The clock 10 can optionally amplify the signalbefore or while re-broadcasting the signal to the second, destinationappliance 14 in the form of the microwave oven. In another scenario,where the destination appliance is a third appliance 16 in the form of arefrigerator, the second appliance 14 can send the signal to the thirdappliance 16.

The clock can optionally serve as a protocol bridge. A protocol is astandard procedure for regulating data transmission between devices;however, not all devices necessarily communicate in the same protocol. Abridge effectively translates one protocol into another so that deviceswith different protocols can communicate with one another. The clock,therefore, can function not only as a time-keeping apparatus but also asa bridge between appliances or between the appliance and another device.Thus, the bridge functionality can be incorporated into the clock andthe user does not need to purchase a separate bridge. The amplifier andbridging functions can also be included in any of the other accessoriesdescribed below.

Referring now to FIG. 3, the clock 10 that communicates with theappliance(s) 12, 14, 16, can include a display 18 for communication withthe user. The display 18 can be integrated with a time display or can beseparate from the time display. As examples, the display 18 can be aliquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma display, a digital display, andthe like. The display 18 can communicate to the user a status of theappliance, such as via one or more notification icons. Examples ofappliance status include, but are not limited to, laundry washingcomplete, laundry drying complete, laundry off balance, microwave fooddefrosted, turn defrosting food in microwave, microwave food ready, ovenpre-heat complete, oven food ready, boil over on cooktop, fire, hotwater ready, and coffee ready. The relevant notification icons canbecome illuminated, such as by flashing or being constantly illuminated,or otherwise visible when appropriate and become un-illuminated orotherwise not visible when appropriate.

The clock 10 can further have the capability of communicating to theuser, such as via the display 18, an alert status of the appliance(s)12, 14, 16 with which the clock 10 communicates, and, optionally, theuser can acknowledge receipt of the alert status, such as via thedisplay 18. According to one embodiment, the acknowledgement by the usercan clear the alert status from the clock 10 and the appliance(s) 12,14, 16. In this manner, the display 18 can function as a user interfacethat effects communication not only to the user from the appliance butalso from the user to the appliance.

With continued reference to FIG. 3, the clock 10 can optionallyincorporate appliance control capability whereby the user can providecontrol inputs or commands to the appliance(s) 12, 14, 16 through theclock 10, such as via the display 18. Exemplary commands include, butare not limited to, start/stop wash cycle, start/stop drying cycle,start/stop cooking program, decrease heating element power for simmer,execute low heat tumble following drying cycle, decrease microwaveheating power, increase temperature of chill zone in refrigerator, andthe like.

If the clock on the network does not have electronics for functioning asan atomic clock, the clock can be a satellite clock that can receivetime from an atomic clock enabled to speak “TimeCast” protocol. Thus,the clock can display the time given by the atomic clock throughTimeCast.

The clock can be internal to the appliance, as described above, or canbe external to the appliance. When the clock is internal to theappliance, electronics for the clock can be packaged into the applianceduring manufacture of the appliance or can be installed into theappliance as an after-market accessory. The clock as an internalaccessory can have any of the functionalities described above for theexternal clock. The clock can also be “plugged” into an appropriateconnector on the appliance. The connector can provide both power anddata communication.

The clock conventionally associated with the appliance can also functionas an accessory. For example, the clock of the appliance can communicatewith clocks of other appliances, such as for synchronization of theclocks to establish and/or maintain consistent time among all of theappliances. An example of clock synchronization is illustrated in FIG.4. The first appliance 12 broadcasts a message requesting identificationof appliances having clocks. The second appliance 14 responds byinforming the first appliance 12 that the second appliance 14 has aclock and provides an address for the clock. Thus, the first appliance12 has established the appliances that have clocks. In the future, theuser can set the time on the first appliance 12, and the first appliance12 can then broadcast the set time to the appliances that have clocks,such as the second appliance 14. Alternatively, the user can set thetime on the clock of another appliance, which can transmit the set timeto the first appliance 12 and the second appliance 14. As a result ofthis process, the user need only set the time on one of the appliancesas the clocks of the other appliances automatically synchronize with theclock having the set time. Such a configuration can be especiallybeneficial in situations, such as a power outage, where multiple clockson the appliances lose power and, therefore, the time.

Another example of clock synchronization is shown schematically in FIG.5. In this example, the appliance requests the time from anotherappliance. The third appliance 16 broadcasts a message requestingidentification of appliances having clocks. The first appliance 12responds by informing the third appliance 16 that the first appliance 12has a clock and provides an address for the clock. Similarly, the secondappliance 14 responds by informing the third appliance 16 that thesecond appliance 14 has a clock and provides an address for the clock.Thus, the third appliance 16 has established the appliances that haveclocks. The third appliance 16 then communicates with at least one ofthe appliances having a clock, which is shown as the first appliance 12in FIG. 5, and requests the time from the first appliance 12. The firstappliance 12 responds by providing the time to the third appliance 16.Alternatively, the third appliance 16 can request the time from anotherof the appliances, such as the second appliance 14.

The clocks of the appliances can also synchronize by one of theappliances broadcasting the time at periodic intervals. When the clocksare synchronized in this manner, each minute rollover of the time can besynchronized so that there is no discrepancy between the times on theclocks, even while the displayed time is changing.

Another example of an accessory is a cooking aid. The cooking aid can bean active accessory, a sensing accessory, or a combination thereof. Theactive accessory can be programmed by the user or can receive commandsfrom the appliance for performing an action. The sensing accessory caninclude one or more sensors that detects a state of the accessory and/orappliance and communicates the state to the appliance or other componenton the network.

Exemplary active cooking aids include a controlled stirrer 20 and aningredient dispenser 122, which can both be associated with the firstappliance 12 in the form of the oven. As shown in FIG. 6, the controlledstirrer 20 can be coupled to a cooking vessel 24, such as a pot or pan,located on a cooktop 26 of the first appliance 12. Alternatively, thecontrolled stirrer 20 can be coupled to the first appliance 12, such asto the cooktop 26, rather than to the cooking vessel 24. The controlledstirrer 20 includes a stirring mechanism 28, such as an auger, that caninduce movement of material (i.e., food) within the cooking vessel 24,and a mount 30 for coupling the stirring mechanism 28 to the cookingvessel 24 or the first appliance 12. The controlled stirrer 20 has acontroller 32 that can communicate with the cooktop 26 or other part ofthe first appliance 12 for receiving stirring commands. The commands canbe associated with a recipe, such as a recipe stored within the firstappliance 12 or a recipe otherwise visible to the first appliance 12,such as via another component on the network. Alternatively, the usercan program the controlled stirrer 20 according to desired actions or arecipe. The stirring commands can include information such as startstirring, stop stirring, stirring speed, and stirring frequency. In analternative embodiment, the controlled stirrer 20 can be integrated withthe cooking vessel 24. Regardless of the configuration of the controlledstirrer 20, employing the controlled stirrer 20 eliminates or reducesthe need for the user to be present at the second appliance 12 to stirthe material in the cooking vessel 24. The controlled stirrer 20 isespecially beneficial when a recipe requires continuous stirring of thematerial for a relatively long period of time.

Referring now to FIG. 7, the ingredient dispenser 122 can be mounted toor located in the vicinity of the first appliance 12 and can include oneor more compartments 40 configured to store ingredients. Thecompartments 40 couple with corresponding dispensing mechanisms 42configured to transport the ingredients from the compartments 40 to acooking vessel 44, such as a pot or pan. The cooking vessel 44 can beintended for use on the cooktop 26 or inside the first appliance 12. Theingredient dispenser 122 further includes a controller 46 that cancommunicate with the first appliance 12 for receiving commands relatedto dispensing the ingredients. The commands can be associated with arecipe, such as a recipe stored within the first appliance 12 or arecipe otherwise visible to the first appliance 12, such as via anothercomponent on the network. Alternatively, the user can program theingredient dispenser 122 according to desired actions or a recipe. Thecommands related to dispensing the ingredients can include informationsuch as when to add an ingredient and the amount of the ingredient to beadded.

The ingredient dispenser 122 can be provided to the user with theingredients in the compartments 40 (i.e., pre-filled compartments) orwith the compartments 40 in an empty condition whereby the user mustsupply the ingredients to the compartments 40. When the compartments 40are pre-filled, the type and amount of ingredients can correspond to apredetermined recipe. In one embodiment, the ingredient dispenser 122can include replaceable compartments so that the user can insertcompartments 40 that correspond to a desired recipe.

Employing the ingredient dispenser 122 provides several advantages. Forexample, the ingredient dispenser can accurately measure and dispensethe ingredients at the proper time during the preparation of thematerial in the cooking vessel 44, thereby improving the quality of theresulting food. Additionally, the ingredient dispenser 122 eliminates orreduces the need for the user to be present at the first appliance 12for dispensing the ingredients.

Exemplary sensing cooking aids include a sensing cooking vessel 50 and aremovable cooking vessel sensor 52, which can both be associated withthe first appliance 12 in the form of the oven. As shown in FIG. 8, thesensing cooking vessel 50 comprises a cooking vessel 54 and a sensor 56that can detect a condition of the cooking vessel 54. The cooking vessel54 can be any suitable type of cooking vessel, such as a pot or a pan.The sensor 56 can be, for example, a temperature sensor, a timer, acombination temperature sensor/timer, a sound sensor, a humidity sensor,a vision sensor, and a motion detector. The sensor can be integratedwith the cooking vessel 54 or otherwise coupled with the cooking vessel54. The sensor 56 can communicate with the first appliance 12, such aswith the cooktop 26, or other component on the network to communicatethe sensed condition of the cooking vessel 54. For example, the sensedcondition can be boiling, boiling over, simmering, current temperature,boiling time, simmering time, time above a certain temperature, andtemperature as a function of time (i.e., heating curve). The firstappliance 12 can be configured to respond to the sensed condition of thecooking vessel 54, such as by increasing heat, decreasing heat, andincreasing or decreasing time at a certain temperature. The response bythe first appliance 12 can be in accordance with a recipe or withinstructions programmed by the user. The sensing cooking vessel 50thereby provides a means for closed loop temperature control between thecooking vessel 54 and the first appliance 12.

In the case of a vision sensor, the sensor could transmit video toanother device for the consumer. The consumer could then make controlfunction decisions including control adjustments or stirring activation,as the case may be.

The functionality of the sensing cooking vessel 50 can alternatively beaccomplished with the removable cooking vessel sensor 52. Referring nowto FIG. 9, the removable cooking vessel sensor 52 is an accessory thatcan be removably coupled to a conventional cooking vessel 58 andcomprises the sensor 56 described above with respect to the sensingcooking vessel 50. The removable cooking vessel sensor 52 can have anysuitable form, such as a clip, as shown in FIG. 9, that removably clipsonto the cooking vessel 58. Employing the removable cooking vesselsensor 52 eliminates the need for the user to purchase a special cookingvessel having the sensor 56; rather, the removable cooking vessel sensor52 can be used with any cooking vessel as it can effectively add thesensor 56 to any cooking vessel.

The exemplary cooking aids described above, the controlled stirrer 20,the ingredient dispenser 122, the sensing cooking vessel 50, and theremovable cooking vessel sensor 52, can be employed individually or incombination with one another. Each of the cooking aids 20, 22, 50, 52provides a degree of automation to the cooking process, and using morethan one of the cooking aids increases the degree of automation. Whenthe user employs more than one of the cooking aids 20, 22, 50, 52, thecooking aids 20, 22, 50, 52 can optionally communicate with each otherin addition to communicating with the first appliance 12 or othercomponent on the network.

Another example of an accessory is an operation cycle componentconfigured to store and transfer operation cycles for the appliance. Anoperation cycle is a set of commands that the appliance executes foroperation of the appliance. For example, a washing machine can haveseveral wash cycles that depend on the type of fabric being washed or asize of a fabric load. Similarly, an oven can have several cookingcycles that depend on the type of food being cooked and the cookingprocess (e.g., defrosting, baking, self-cleaning). Typically, theappliance when purchased by the user has a set of operation cycles thatcan permanently reside in the appliance as firmware. Referring now toFIG. 10, the operation cycle component 60 can store additional operationcycles not originally provided with the appliance 12 and communicatewith the appliance 12 such that the appliance can implement theadditional operational cycles. The operation cycle stored by theoperation cycle component 60 can also or alternatively include anupdated operation cycle. The operation cycle component 60 can be anytype of component, such as a hardware device that can plug into theappliance 12. In FIG. 10, the operation cycle component 60 is shown as aUSB dongle that can couple with both a personal computer and theappliance 12. The USB connection and communication is just forillustration and is not limiting on the invention. Any other suitableconnector and/or communication method can be used.

With continued reference to FIG. 10, the additional operation cycles canbe uploaded to the operation cycle component 60 in any suitable manner.For example, the operation cycle component 60 having the additionaloperation cycles can be purchased at a retail store 62, or theadditional operation cycles can be uploaded to the operation cyclecomponent 60 at the retail store. Alternatively, the user can downloadthe additional operation cycles via the Internet 64. For example, theuser can download the additional operation cycles through a personalcomputer 66 and then upload the additional operation cycles to theoperation cycle component 60, or the user can wirelessly directlydownload the operation cycles to the operation cycle component 60. Inanother embodiment, the user can develop custom additional operationcycles on the personal computer 66 and upload the custom additionaloperation cycles to the operation cycle component 60. In an alternativeembodiment, the additional operational cycles can be transmittedwirelessly from the personal computer 66 to the appliance 12 withoutusing the operation cycle component 60. The wirelessly transmittedadditional operational cycles can be transmitted to an intermediatestorage in the appliance 12. The cycles can also be authenticated by thesoftware architecture or other methods to ensure that they arecompatible with and appropriate for the appliance.

The operation cycle component 60 can couple with the appliance 12 in anysuitable manner, such as through a direct hardwire connection or awireless connection. Furthermore, the appliance 12 can implement theadditional operation cycles directly from the operation cycle component60, or the additional operation cycles can be transferred from theoperation cycle component 60 to the appliance 12. Referring now to FIG.11, which illustrates a main controller 68 of the appliance 12, theadditional operation cycles can be considered software that can beprovided to the cycle engine. The cycle engine can operate on operationcycle data provided from multiple sources of persistence.

Other examples of an accessory include a consumable and a consumablereader. A consumable is an object external to the appliance that can beconsumed or otherwise used during operation of the appliance orfollowing operation of the appliance. The consumable can be consumed bythe appliance or by the user. Examples of consumables include, but arenot limited to, detergents and other wash aids for a laundry applianceand/or dishwasher, fabric items (e.g., clothing), heat and serve meals,frozen side dishes, frozen meals, microwave popcorn, frozen pizza, andfrozen breakfast sandwiches. Characteristics or information, such as anoperating cycle, usage directions, cooking instructions, dosageinformation, and washing/drying instructions, associated with theconsumable can persist, for example, within the consumable itself, inthe packaging for the consumable, or in auxiliary materials, such asuser manuals and tags, provided with the consumable.

The consumable reader is a component that can accept the informationassociated with the consumable and transmit it to the controller of theappliance. The consumable reader can be a device integrated with theappliance or a separate device that can be coupled, either by a hardwireconnection or wireless connection, to the appliance for communicationwith the appliance. Examples of consumable readers include, but are notlimited to, bar code scanners, radio frequency identification (RFID) tagreaders, and magnetic strip readers.

The consumable reader communicates the information associated with theconsumable to the appliance so that the appliance can optimize itsperformance for the consumable. An example of employing the consumableand consumable reader is provided in the schematic illustration of FIG.12. In this example, a food provider 70 determines cooking instructionsfor a consumable 72 in the form of a frozen meal and encodes thepackaging for the consumable 72 with the cooking instructions. The usercan place the consumable 72 in the vicinity of the appliance 12 in theform of an oven, and a consumable reader 74 of the appliance 12communicates the encoded cooking instructions from the consumable 72 tothe appliance 12. The appliance 12 can then execute the cookinginstructions for preparing the frozen meal.

It is contemplated that the consumable will contain informationcorresponding to a preferred operating cycle for the consumable. In thecase of a food item, the information would correspond to a cooking cyclefor the consumable. The consumable can also have the ability to identifythe appliance and provide an appliance-specific operating cycle. Onemanner of implementing this is for the consumable to have operatingcycles corresponding to a particular appliance or class of appliance.The appliance in which the consumable is used identifies and implementsthe relevant operating cycle. Another manner of implementation is forthe consumable to have an identifier and the appliance has stored oraccess to a database or table of operating cycles for differentconsumables. The appliance takes the consumable identifier and looks upthe corresponding operating cycle for the consumable.

The information associated with the consumable can be in any suitableform. In one embodiment, the information can be a communication packetthat can be directly transmitted to the software architecture, therebyeliminating a need for a central storage of consumables data. In anotherembodiment, the information can be a key that can be used to direct theappliance to stored consumables data.

It is within the scope of the invention to utilize the consumableswithout the consumable reader. For example, the consumable can beconfigured to directly communicate with the appliance or other componenton the network without employing an intermediate consumable reader.

The consumables can be supplied by a third-party provider, as in thecase of store-bought frozen meals and wash aids for laundry appliancesand/or dishwashers, or provided by the user. Leftovers and cooked anduncooked prepared foods are examples of consumables that can be providedby the user. The leftovers and the prepared foods can be placed in astorage container encoded with information related to the leftovers andprepared foods. For example, the information can include re-heat orcooking instructions and an expiration date (i.e., throw away date).When the information includes the expiration date, the appliance, suchas the oven or microwave oven, can refuse to re-heat or cook the food ifthe current date is past the expiration date. Optionally, the appliancecan be configured to receive an override command from the user when theuser desires to re-heat or cook the food despite the expiration date.

Any suitable material can be used to encode the information, andexamples include, but are not limited to, plastic wrap, aluminum foil,pots, pans, microwave-safe containers, container lids, and an adhesiveor magnetic strip that can be placed on the storage container. Theinformation can be configured by the person who originally prepared theleftovers and the prepared foods and encoded using any suitable means,such as a personal computer, a magnetic strip writer, and a handheldencoding device. With this configuration, the user can configure theinformation on the consumable as desired.

Along the lines of the consumables and the consumable readers, anotherexample of an accessory is a recipe book and a recipe book scanningwand. The recipe book can contain various recipes having associatedcooking instructions, and the cooking instructions can be extracted bythe recipe book scanning wand. For example, the cooking instructions canbe extracted from text of the recipe book or hidden or visible encoding.The recipe book scanning wand can then communicate, via hardwire orwireless connection, the cooking instructions to the appliance forexecution. In an alternative embodiment, the recipe book can directlycommunicate with the appliance without employing the recipe bookscanning wand.

Another example of an accessory is a commercial laundry creditaccessory. The commercial laundry credit accessory can be any suitabledevice, such as a card with memory and/or a microprocessor (commonlyknown as a “smart card”) and a dongle. The commercial laundry creditaccessory can store laundry operation cycle credits and communicate withthe appliance in the form of a commercial laundry appliance, such as ata public laundry facility, via a direct or wireless connection. When thecommercial laundry credit accessory has sufficient credits, theappliance will operate and deduct credits from the commercial laundrycredit accessory based on the operation of the appliance. Optionally,individual users can purchase the laundry operation cycle credits, orothers can purchase the laundry operation cycle credits for giftingpurposes. In one embodiment, the laundry operation cycle credits can bepurchased at the public laundry facility or remotely, such as via theInternet.

The credit accessory can also be used in combination with the softwarearchitecture to track usage and transferring the usage information to alocal or remote central system. Price changes and other operatingparameters for the laundry can be changed by the credit accessory. Theprice change can be linked to other information accessible through thesoftware architecture, such as energy costs, for example. The creditaccessory can also collect diagnostic information and call for serviceor alert the owner if there are any pending issues via wired orwireless. The smart card can also be used to supply alternate content tothe user interface of the appliance, such as advertisement, for example.

Another example of an accessory is a customized connector that can beused to couple the appliance with another accessory or with anothercomponent on the network. The customized connector can be associatedwith any item, such as a cable or a dongle, that can couple with theappliance, and can be configured to prevent unauthorized, third-partydevices, including generic brand replacement parts, from undesirablycoupling with the appliance and other components on the network. Thus,the connecting item must have the customized connector to couple withthe appliance or other component on the network.

Another group of exemplary accessories relate to energy usage. Forexample, the accessory can be an energy controller and/or energymonitor, hereinafter referred to collectively as the energy controller.The energy controller can be a separate component on the network thatcommunicates with several appliances and other networked components inthe home and also with an energy source, such as an electricity source.The energy controller can monitor the amount of energy used by each ofthe appliances and can distribute energy among the appliances. Thedistribution of energy can result in an efficient usage of energy andcan also manage energy usage, for example, when the energy sourcecurtails the amount of supplied energy. The energy controller can alsocontrol the operation of the appliances so that the operation occursduring non-peak energy usage times, which typically correspond to lowerenergy costs.

The energy controller can be internally configured for communicationwith the appliances, or a separate connection accessory, such as adongle, can be coupled to the energy controller to provide connectivityto the appliances. Similarly, the appliance can be internally configuredfor communication with the energy controller, or a separate connectionaccessory 78, such as a dongle, as illustrated in FIG. 13, can becoupled to the appliance 12 to provide connectivity to the energycontroller. The connection accessory can have the ability to discoverthe type of appliance and provide appropriate modules of the softwarearchitecture for the appliance. In addition, the connection accessorycan have the ability to respond to messages and commands from the energycontroller. The connection accessories can be configured to providewireless communication between the energy controller and the appliances.

The energy controller 78 can be connected to an energy supplier by anysuitable means, such as, wireless, Internet, power lines, etc. With sucha connection, the energy supplier can provide information relevant tothe control of the appliance. The energy supplier can also remotelycontrol the appliance in addition to or in lieu of providinginformation.

Other energy related accessories include a smart breaker, a smartdimmer, and a smart adapter. The smart breaker is described in detail inU.S. Pat. No. 6,988,375, issued Jun. 24, 2006 which is incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety.

The smart dimmer is effectively a replacement for a load switch, such asa light switch, having discrete on/off control and can be used in anycomponent on the network that uses standard AC power, such as lights andceiling fans. The smart dimmer provides the ability to not only switchpower on and off but also to vary voltage, such as via triac control orconverter/inverter control. The smart dimmer communicates with theenergy controller, such as to respond to requests from the energycontroller and to notify the energy controller of energy consumptionstatus. By giving the energy controller additional control over thecomponent associated with the smart dimmer, the energy controller hasmore capability to achieve target energy consumption without disruptionto the user. Furthermore, in the event of an emergency energycurtailment, the energy controller can communicate with the smart dimmerto dim or shut off the lights or other component associated with thesmart dimmer. The smart dimmer can also have associated sensingcapabilities to feedback to the energy controller measurements of wattsand power-factor.

The smart adapter is functionally similar to the smart dimmer but servesas a replacement for a common wall outlet. By replacing the common walloutlet with the smart adapter, which can communicate with the energycontroller in a manner similar to the communication between the smartdimmer and the energy controller, “dumb” components, such as waterheaters, that typically function in off/on modes can be plugged into thesmart adapter and converted for use on the network and for operation atvarying voltages. As a result, the components with the smart adapterscan participate in energy curtailment programs and can communicateenergy usage information to the energy controller.

A smart dimmer and a smart adapter are both, in effect, smart currentattenuators that can alter current flow based on remote input. FIG. 39discloses a smart circuit attenuator 500 according to the invention.Power enters the smart circuit attenuator 500 at input 502 and exits thesmart circuit attenuator 500 at output 504. The smart circuit attenuator500 has the capacity to attenuate the current through the dimmer andthereby provide reduced power to an appliance or other device (e.g.,lights, fans, etc.) connected to the power output 504, as well as thecapacity to reduce the power drawn at the input 502 and thereby reduceoverall consumption. Conventional dimmers use a rheostat to reducevoltage and thereby reduce power output, but do not reduce overall powerconsumption because the excess power from the input is lost as heat. Thesmart circuit attenuator 500 accomplishes both current limiting througha load and power limiting throughout a circuit.

The smart circuit attenuator 500 comprises a triac 506 that effectivelyreduces current flow through the circuit depending on the firing angleof the signal that triggers the triac. A processor 508 is configured tosignal the triac 506 by changing the firing angle as at A, turning thetriac off as at B, or pulsing the triac as at C. The smart circuitattenuator 500 will further comprise a frequency sensor 510, sometimescalled a GFA sensor. The frequency sensor 510 signals a value related tothe line frequency to the processor 508, and when the frequency valuefalls below a predetermined threshold, the processor will, if enabled bya user, send one of the signals A or B to the triac 506. The processor508 can be powered by line current through a transformer 512, where theline current is split before the triac 506.

A communication module 514 in the smart circuit attenuator 500 enablescommunication with a network, wired or wirelessly via a port 516, and isconnected to the processor 508. The smart circuit attenuator 50 canreceive, using its communication capabilities with a client, signalsthat tell the processor 508 or otherwise enable the processor todetermine what signal, if any, to send to the triac 506. Thecommunication module 514 can also report back to the client presumablyregistered for notification (for example an appliance user interface,remote user interface, a TV, or any of the clients disclosed herein)with an updated status. The updated status can include an identifier,identifying the actual smart circuit attenuator and differentiating itfrom other nodes on the network.

The smart circuit attenuator will normally have a memory associated withthe processor 508. Through its communications module 514, the smartcircuit attenuator 500 can hold in its memory information about aresource. The smart circuit attenuator 500 can communicate otherinformation about a resource to allow a determination about the resourceto be made. That determination can be made in the smart circuitattenuator 500 or it can be made in a client of the dimmer. The smartcircuit attenuator can implement the software architecture disclosed inincorporated International Patent Application No. PCT/US2006/022420, ora related client communications interface.

A meter 518 is provided in the line after the triac 506 to measure powerfrom the triac and send a signal indicative of the measured power to theprocessor as at D. This enables the smart circuit attenuator 500 toperiodically check for continuity in the load circuit. It can do so bycontinually monitoring the power measured by the meter 518. It can alsodo a diagnostic test by firing the triac 506 for a few cycles to see ifthere is measured power from the meter 518. Where there is power at themeter, there is continuity in the circuit.

An interface 520 connected to the processor 508 might include suchfeatures as a visual indicator (e.g., an LED) to show status of thedimmer, a manual override switch to override the automatic built-infunctions, a dimming set level, and the like. The interface 520 enablesthe smart circuit attenuator to report a malfunctioning device that isno longer drawing power through the dimmer (e.g., a burnt out bulb)locally. The report can also be transmitted remotely to a client (e.g.,a refrigerator, oven, or micro-wave) via the communication module 514.Communications can be effected to a different kind of user interface ona PC connected to the interface 520 or displayed to a TV or as a textmessage on a cell phone.

Licensable information can be displayed in the visual indicator of theinterface 520 to differentiate the product from competition, and toprovide an emotional connection between the consumer, the product, andthe brand promise delivered through the product.

The communication module 514 can also have a component to couple theprocessor 508 to a network. The communication module 514 will likelyestablish communications with a second coupler in communications with asource of information about a resource, or a second coupler incommunication with another user interface, or a second coupler incommunication with an energy controller as disclosed elsewhere herein.

The smart circuit attenuator 500 can be added to a private network by anetwork binder (disclosed elsewhere herein), or by discoveryautomatically on power-up. As well, the smart circuit attenuator 500 canexchange propagated messages with a source of information about aresource, or contribute information to a coupler which aggregates theinformation from other devices and sends that information to a source ofinformation about a resource. Here, the normal resource relevant tocontrol by the smart circuit attenuator will be electricity.

Other examples of accessories relate to servicing the appliance. In oneembodiment, a remote service center can communicate wirelessly with theappliance in the home. As a result, the remote service center canmonitor the appliance, including low level components of the appliance,either passively or actively, and diagnose failures of the appliance. Anexample of passive monitoring of the appliance is illustrated in FIG.14. In this scenario, the user communicates with the customer servicecenter 80, such as via a telephone call or through the Internet, toinform the customer service center 80 that the appliance 12 in the formof an oven is not functioning properly. In response, the customerservice center 80 communicates with the appliance 12 wirelessly tomonitor the appliance 12 and diagnoses a failure associated with acomponent of the appliance 12, particularly the door latch. Thus,observation over the network enables the remote service center 80 todiagnose the failed component without a service visit to the home.

If information not available on the internal network of the appliance isneeded for diagnosis, the remote service center 80 can use the DAQ,which is described in more detail in the aforementioned and incorporatedPCT patent application to retrieve information available in memory ofthe associated appliance componentry for analysis of a problem or forsearching for a problem.

If in addition to passive monitoring, the remote service center 80determines the need to control and test the low level components of theappliance 12, the remote service center 80 can actively monitor theappliance 12. To actively monitor the appliance 12, the remote servicecenter 80 can put the appliance 12 in a development state, which isdescribed in more detail in the aforementioned and incorporated PCTpatent application and priority application. In the development state,the remote service center 80 can communicate with the appliance 12 andactuate the individual components of the appliance, such as heaters,valves, and motors, to facilitate making a diagnosis. According to oneembodiment, for the appliance 12 to enter the development state, theappliance 12 must be in an attended mode. In the attended mode, aresponsible person must be present at the appliance to ensure that theactuation of the individual components of the appliance 12 does not harmanyone in the vicinity of the appliance 12. The responsible person canbe the user of the appliance 12 or any other person deemed responsible.The presence of the responsible person can be confirmed in any suitablemanner, such as by communication between an identification card of theresponsible person and the appliance 12 or by the responsible personactuating a key press on the appliance 12.

As an alternative, the appliance can be monitored and diagnosed by anindividual, such as the user, in the home with the aid of a serviceaccessory rather than employing the remote service center. In thisscenario, an automated service system replaces the remote servicecenter. The service accessory can be any suitable device, such as adongle, configured to communicate, either via a wired connection orwirelessly, with the appliance and with the automated service system.

An example of self-servicing the application using the automated servicesystem and the service accessory is illustrated in FIG. 15. Shown asstep 1, the user couples the service accessory 90 to the appliance 12 inthe form of an oven, and the service accessory 90 automaticallyconfigures to record diagnostic data from the appliance 12. If anappliance failure occurs, the user removes the service accessory 90 fromthe appliance 12 and couples the service accessory 90 to a personalcomputer 92, shown as step 2. Next, the service accessory 90 connects tothe Internet via the personal computer 92, shown as step 3, and uploadsthe diagnostic data associated with the appliance failure to theautomated service system. The automated service system analyzes thediagnostic data and determines an appropriate response. The response caninclude, for example, downloading customized testing scripts based onthe diagnostic data, and the testing scripts can be used to furtherdiagnose the appliance failure or eliminate the problem. The testingscripts can be downloaded via the Internet and the personal computer 92to the service accessory 90, which can be re-coupled to the appliance12, shown as step 4, for transferring the testing scripts to theappliance 12. Alternatively, the service accessory can be a couplingmechanism allowing a computing device, such as a cellular phone, apersonal computer, and a personal digital assistant, to execute logicassociated with data collection, analysis, and test scripts.

Other examples of accessories relate to home automation. Home automationsystems are systems with a control center configured to control multipleobjects, such as lights, drapes, blinds, thermostats, audio/videocomponents, and security systems, within a home. Typical control centersare in the form of a monitor, such as a touchpanel monitor, or a remotecontrol with a customized keypad. With the software architecture, theappliance can be integrated with the home automation system. In oneembodiment, the appliance can be added to an existing home automationsystem whereby the appliance can be controlled, monitored, etc. from thecontrol center. The appliance can optionally communicate with thecontrol center via a wireless device coupled to the appliance.Alternatively, the appliance can be used as the control center. Forexample, a kitchen is generally a centralized location in the home, andone of the appliances, such as a refrigerator, in the kitchen caninclude the control center. In this example, the control center can be amonitor integrated into a door of the refrigerator.

By combining the appliance and the home automation system, severalsynergistic features become feasible. For example, when a fire alarm orsmoke detector of the home automation system detects a fire or smoke,the combined appliance/home automation system can take appropriateactions, such as turning off an oven and cooktop, turning off HVACsystems, turning on lights, and shutting off gas supply. In anotherexample, the user can set the combined appliance/home automation systemin a vacation mode. Upon departure and during the vacation, the combinedappliance/home automation system can take appropriate actions, such asshutting off water supply, turning off water heaters, increaserefrigerator temperature, enable alarms, and setup an automatictelephone call to police if the refrigerator door opens. On return, thecombined appliance/home automation system can take appropriate actions,such as turning on water supply, turning on water heaters, decreaserefrigerator temperature, and disable alarms.

As another example, the combined appliance/home automation system canprovide notifications to the user for time management benefits and peaceof mind. Notifications for time management benefits can include, but arenot limited, to fabric/dish washing complete, fabric/dish dryingcomplete, microwave defrost complete, turn food for microwave defrost,oven pre-heat complete, and food cooking complete. Upon receiving thenotification, the user can immediately attend to the correspondingappliance to remove the fabric load, dish load, food, etc. rather thanspending the time to periodically having to check whether the operationcycle is complete and possibly delaying initiation of another operationcycle. Notifications for peace of mind can include, but are not limitedto, refrigerator door ajar, freezer door ajar, water filter operational,oven left on, cooktop left on, basement humidity level satisfactory, airfiltration system functioning, air quality index, boil over on cooktop,and grill flame exceeding limit.

The notifications can be provided to the user on the control system or aremote device that can be used outside the home. Examples of remotedevices include, but are not limited to, a cellular phone, a key fob,and a pager/buzzer. The remote device can be configured with thesoftware architecture for communication with the appliance or othercomponent on the network.

Another example of an accessory is a network binder. The network binderis a device that binds nodes on a wireless network to the network byassigning an identical unique network ID to each node. Binding allowsnodes that are within communication range of each other to be boundtogether to create private networks and separate the nodes from othernodes that are also within communication range but not part of thenetwork. The network binder can be useful when there are multiplenetworks within range of one another, as in a neighborhood or anapartment building. The private network prevents communications frombeing inadvertently transmitted between networks, which would preventunexpected interactions. The network binder of the present applicationcan be a wireless device that is solely used for binding appliances orother components in a relatively short range of the network binder. Forexample, the network binder can have a limited transmission range ofabout three to four feet to ensure that the target appliance or othercomponent becomes bound to the network when the network binder isoperated. An exemplary network binder 100 is illustrated in FIG. 16 andcomprises at least one button 102 that can be depressed when in thevicinity of the appliance 12 or other component to bind the appliance 12or other component to the network. The network binder can optionallyhave the ability to communicate with a personal computer or othercomputing device so that the computing device can also be configured.

Another example of an accessory is a remote user interface. The remoteuser interface is a user interface that can communicate with one or moreappliances and can be positioned remotely from the appliances with whichthe remote user interface communicates. For example, the remote userinterface can be positioned in a central location in the home or can beportable within the home. The remote user interface can provide many, ifnot all, of the functions associated with a traditional user interfaceof the appliance and can include additional functionalities. The remoteuser interface can have any suitable form, such as a monitor, includinga touchpanel monitor 110, as illustrated in FIG. 17. Other examples ofthe remote user interface can include, but are not limited, to a remotekeypad, a phone, a personal computer, a voice recognition device, avoice generation device, a sound generation and recognition device, aremote control, a user interface of a home automation system, a userinterface of a component different from the components of the appliance,a television, a device that plays recorded music, a device that playsrecorded video, and a personal digital assistant. According to oneembodiment, the remote user interface can be employed in addition to thetraditional user interfaces on the appliances associated with the remoteuser interface. Alternatively, the appliances associated with the remoteuser interface do not include a separate user interface that physicallyresides on the appliances. Furthermore, the remote user interface can beused in conjunction with the above-described combination appliance/homeautomation system.

Another example of an accessory is an appliance monitor. The appliancemonitor, which can be a device integrated with or separate from theappliance, monitors and records operational data associated with theappliance. The appliance monitor can monitor one appliance or aplurality of appliances. Optionally, the appliance monitor can include adisplay for displaying an operational status of the appliance and can beintegrated with the remote user interface described above to alsoprovide the ability to issue commands to the appliance. Furthermore, theappliance monitor can optionally be configured to transmit theoperational data associated with the appliance to another device, suchas a personal computing device or an intermediate storage device, suchas a dongle.

In an example illustrated in FIG. 18, the appliance monitor 116 isintegrated into the first appliance 12 in the form of a microwave oven,and the second, third, and fourth appliances 14, 16, 18, along with thefirst appliance 12, communicate with the appliance monitor 116. Inanother example illustrated in FIG. 19, the appliance monitor 116 is aseparate, portable device that communicates with the first, second,third, and fourth appliances 12, 14, 16, 18. The portable appliancemonitor 116 can be carried by the user so that the user is able toobserve the operational status of the appliance at any desired time.

Other examples of accessories relate to servicing the appliances. If theappliance experiences a failure that requires a service person to visitthe appliance in the home, the service person can couple a personalcomputer or other portable computing device to the appliance using asmart cable 120 or a smart wireless connector 122. As shownschematically in FIG. 20, the smart cable 120 hardwires the appliance 12with the portable computing device 124. The smart cable 120 can includespecial, proprietary electronics that enable communication between theappliance 12 and the personal computing device 124. As a result,unauthorized persons who do not have the smart cable 120 cannot couplean unauthorized computing device with the appliance. Referring now toFIG. 21, the smart wireless connector 122 accomplishes the same goal asthe smart cable 120, except that the former provides a wireless ratherthan hardwired connection between the appliance 12 and the portablecomputing device 124. The smart wireless connector 122 can be anysuitable device, such as a proprietary wireless dongle, that establishesa proprietary connection between the appliance 12 and the portablecomputing device 124.

Additional service-related accessories include a central collector 130and a local collector 132, which can implement the same service-relatedfunctions previously described. Referring to FIG. 22, the centralcollector 130 functions similarly to the appliance monitor describedabove in that the central collector 130 communicates with theappliance(s) and monitors and records operational data associated withthe appliance(s). The central collector 130 is illustrated in FIG. 22 asa box mounted to a wall in the home, but the central collector 130 canassume any suitable form and can be located in any suitable location,including on or in the appliance. The central collector 130 cancommunicate with the appliances 12, 14, 16, such as via a wirelessconnection, and the remote service center 80 can also communicate withthe central collector 130. As a result, when an appliance failureoccurs, the user can communicate with the remote service center 80, suchas via telephone, to inform the remote service center 80 of theappliance failure, and the remote service center 80 can communicate withthe central collector 130 to receive and analyze the operational dataassociated with the failed appliance. Furthermore, if the appliancefailure requires a visit from a service person 132, the service person132 can optionally communicate with the central collector 130, such asvia a portable computing device, to receive and analyze the operationaldata associated with the failed appliance. The central collector 130 canalso be employed by the service person 132 for field testing of theappliance. While illustrated external of the appliances, the centralcollector can be located within one of the appliances.

The central collector 130 can also be used for aggregation of customerusage data. The customer usage data can be sold to third parties and canbe used in customer studies to gain insight to customer usage patternsand preferences. As another option, the central collector 130 can beused for benchmarking. The operational data associated with theappliance can be aggregated and compared to benchmarks or used togenerate benchmarks related to appliance performance. When theoperational data is compared to a benchmark, and the comparisonindicates a degradation of appliance performance, the user can bealerted to the decrease in performance.

A derivative of the central collector 130 is a black box recorder. Theblack box recorder can function similarly to the central collector 130but is constructed such that it cannot be destroyed or at least retainsthe operational data associated with the appliance in case of a fire orother event potentially destructive event to the appliance or the home.The operational data can possibly be used by insurance companies andinvestigators to assess the cause and effects of the destructive event.

Referring now to FIG. 23, the local collector 132 functions similarly tothe central collector 130 in that the local collector 132 communicateswith the appliance(s) and monitors and records operational dataassociated with the appliance(s); however, the local collector 132 is aportable device that can removably couple with the appliance(s). Asshown in FIG. 23, where the local collector 132 is illustrated as adongle, the local collector 132 can be coupled with the appliance 12 toreceive the operational data associated with the appliance 12 andremoved from the appliance 12. After removal from the appliance 12, thelocal collector 132 can be coupled with a computing device 134 of theuser, and the operational data can be sent from the computing device134, such as via the Internet, to a remote location, such as the remoteservice center 80 or a remote automation center 136. If the user doesnot have the computing device 134 or an Internet connection, then thelocal collector 132 can be provided to a shipping service 138 fordelivery to the remote location.

The local collector 132 can be implemented using the service accessory90. Either of the local collector 132 or the service accessory 90 can beinterfaced with the electrical system of the appliance and with eitherthe appliance or with a service tool (accessory) to perform enhanceddiagnostics and performance analysis of the appliance. Exemplary useswould be to validate that each output device (when actuated) consumesthe expected electrical consumption, and to realize certain performanceor failure conditions by evaluating information contained in theelectrical bus (example frequency analysis).

Another example of an accessory is an appliance coupler. The appliancecoupler can be any device, such as a cable connector or a device capableof wireless communication, that enables direct communication betweenappliances. As a result, the coupled appliances can communicate witheach other, which can be especially beneficial when the operation of oneappliance affects the operation of another appliance. For example, awashing machine and a dryer can be coupled together by the appliancecoupler, and the operational cycle of the dryer can be selected based onthe operational cycle employed by the washer.

Another example of an accessory is a sales demo accessory. As shown byexample in FIG. 24, the sales demo accessory 140 can be a portabledevice, such as a dongle, that can removably couple with the appliance12 on display at a retail store. The sales demo accessory 140 can storesales demos that can be executed by the appliance 12. The sales demoscan control the appliance 12, highlight certain features of theappliance 12 for the customer, and can be interactive with the customer.Examples of the sales demos include, but are not limited to, displayingpromotions on a user interface, user interface light and sound shows,voice feedback combined with user interface key presses, voice commandand control, video playback combined with user interface key presses,motion sensing, and mechanical system custom demonstrations. When thesoftware architecture enables control of individual components of theappliance 12, the sales demo can take advantage of this capability andcombine the control of the components with external electronics andcustomization, thereby motivating the customer to interact with theappliance 12. The sales demo mode can be implemented by placing theappliance into a development state using the software architecture.

The sales demos can be downloaded to the sales demo accessory 140 from aweb site associated with the manufacturer of the appliance 12 andupdated periodically to reflect current marketing strategies of themanufacturer of the appliance 12. By differentiating the appliance 12from other appliances on display in the retail store, the sales demoscan help improve sales of the appliance 12. The sales demos can becustomized according to the retail store and trade partners of themanufacturer of the appliance 12. Furthermore, by locating the salesdemos on the sales demo accessory 140, code for sales demos that wouldtraditionally reside on the appliance 12 can be removed from theappliance 12, thereby reducing development time and cost of theappliance 12.

Another example of an accessory is a cellular phone, which can be usedfor communication with the appliance 12. In general, today's cellularphones have several integrated technologies, including networkingcapabilities (Including Bluetooth®), Internet connection capabilities,color user interfaces, premium sound, voice recognition capabilities forautomatic dialing, and tactile feedback (e.g., vibration), and theseintegrated technologies can be utilized in conjunction with theappliance 12. Referring to FIG. 25, the cellular phone 150 cancommunicate with the appliance 12 via Bluetooth® or an externalconnector, such as a USB connector. The cellular phone 150 can alsocommunicate via the Internet. Thus, the cellular phone 150 can downloadinformation from the Internet and communicate the downloaded informationto the appliance 12 and, conversely, receive information from theappliance 12 and upload the information to the Internet. The informationcan be any type of information related to the appliance 12, such asapplications, custom tests, custom audio, diagnostic data, and customerdata.

Examples of using the cellular phone include, but are not limited to,remote diagnostics and service, interactive audio, voice control, andenhanced user interface. For remote diagnostics and service, thecellular phone discovers the appliance and downloads diagnostic testsfrom the Internet. The cellular phone can locally execute the diagnostictests through the software architecture and Bluetooth® (or othercommunication means). After the diagnostic tests are complete, thecellular phone can upload testing results to the Internet for diagnosis.For interactive audio, the cellular phone discovers the appliance anddownloads custom audio files from the Internet. The cellular phone canregister with the appliance for key status events through the softwarearchitecture and Bluetooth® (or other communication means). When the keyevents occur on the appliance, the cellular phone can automatically playthe appropriate audio file to provide enhanced feedback. For voicecontrol, the user can input voice commands into the cellular phone, andthe cellular phone can convert the voice command to a command for thesoftware architecture and transmit the command over Bluetooth® (or othercommunication means). Finally, for the enhanced user interface, a userinterface application, which can be downloaded from the Internet, can beexecuted on the cellular phone. The user interface application can takeadvantage of the color user interface, the premium sound, and thetactile feedback on the cellular phone. The control of the appliance 12via the enhanced user interface and feedback from the appliance 12 tothe enhanced user interface can occur locally through the softwarearchitecture and Bluetooth® (or other communication means).

Another example of an accessory is an audio communication accessory. Theaudio communication accessory is a device that communicates with theappliance or other component on the network having a traditionallyvisual user interface and adds audio capabilities to the user interface.The audio communication accessory can also be used with any appliancesor other component on the network that does not have a user interface.By incorporating the audio communication accessory, the appliance orother component on the network can audibly communicate informationrelated to the appliance or other component to the user, and,optionally, the user can audibly communicate commands and the like tothe appliance or other component through the audio communicationaccessory. Audible communication can be especially beneficial to usershaving a physical disability, such as blindness or mobility issues whereit is difficult for the user to move within visual range of theappliance or other component. The audible communication can be voice(i.e., speaking) or a variety of sounds, such as beeping, alarms, Morsecode, songs, etc.

Referring to FIG. 26, the audio communication accessory 160 can bedirectly mounted to the appliance 12, 14, as shown at 160A or can beseparate or remote from the appliance 12, 14 as shown at 160B. In thelatter case, the remote audio communication accessory 160B can belocated in the home at a convenient location for the user. In oneembodiment, the audio communication accessory 160A mounted to theappliance 12, 14 can communicate with the remote audio communicationaccessory 160B so that the audible information is communicated at morethan one location. It is also contemplated that the audio communicationaccessory 160 can communicate with other audio devices, such as atelephone, a stereo system, a clock radio, and a cellular phone, so thatthe information can be communicated audibly through the audio device andincrease the likelihood that the user will hear the information.

Examples of the information communicated by the audio communicationaccessory to the user can include, but are not limited to, notificationsconcerning an operational status of the appliance or other component,such as fireplace on, security system activated, carbon monoxide alarmactivated, appliance door open, temperature limits exceeded, leakage,filter requires changing, end of operation cycle, cooktop burner on,oven pre-heat complete, fabric/dish washing complete, water temperature,circuit breaker blown, energy usage status, and energy usage exceedspreprogrammed limit. Examples of the information communicated from theuser to the audio communication accessory can include, but are notlimited to, commands concerning an operational status of the applianceor other component, such as call or otherwise contact emergencypersonnel, turn on outdoor spa, turn on outdoor sprinkler system, extenddryer operation cycle, and initiate operation cycle.

Other examples of utilizing the audio communication accessory follow. Inone embodiment, the audio communication accessory can be used as anevent calendar where the user can record an event, such as a reminder totake medicine, and the audio communication accessory can play thereminder at the appropriate time. As another example, the audiocommunication accessory can communicate with a source of weatherinformation, such as via the Internet, and notify the user of weatherconditions on demand or at preprogrammed times. It is also contemplatedthat the audio communication accessory can be used in conjunction withtracking devices to locate items in the home. For example, a set of keyscan be equipped with the tracking device, and the audio communicationaccessory can communicate to the user the location of keys when the usercannot find the keys. The audio communication accessory can also beemployed as an intercom system where multiple users can communicate withone another through the audio communication accessory. In this scenario,the users can each have the audio communication accessory, or the singleaudio communication accessory can interface with another device toenable two-way communication. In another embodiment, the audiocommunication accessory can be used to place the appliances or othercomponents on the network in a “sleep mode,” which can include, forexample, shutting off lights, lower heating temperature, and activatingthe security system, when the user provides a sleep mode command as theuser is going to bed. As another example, the audio communicationaccessory can be used in conjunction with the sales demo accessorydescribed above to audibly enhance the sales demos for the appliance.The customer could effectively talk to the appliance and vice-versa,thereby improving the customer interaction with the appliance at theretail store. It is also contemplated that the audio communicationaccessory can be used in conjunction with an outdoor audio system and/oroutdoor camera whereby the user can audibly communicate with a personwho has activated a doorbell and/or view, such as via a display on acellular phone, images of the person who has activated the doorbell. Asanother example, the audio communication accessory can communicate witha computing device or telephone system and notify the user when the userhas received new electronic mail messages and voice mail messages.

The audio communication accessory can also be used to implement anaudible use and care guide associated with the appliance. The audibleuse and care guide can be considered a replacement or addition to aconventional user manual that a user must read. Listening to the audibleuser and care guide can be more convenient, more efficient, and moreeasily understood than reading the conventional user manual. The audibleuse and care guide can include content traditionally included in theconventional user manual, such as explanations of the operational cyclesand/or features of the appliance, troubleshooting information, andrecommendations for care of different types of items used in theappliance (e.g., laundry, dishes, foods). As an improvement, the audibleuse and care guide can be configured to communicate information relatedto operation cycles selected in real-time by the user. Thus, as theoperation cycle is being selected by the user, the audible use and careguide can inform the user, for example, how to use the operation cycle,what the operation cycle is meant for, what options are available forthe operation cycle, and steps for programming the operation cycle.

The audible use and care guide can be activated prior to using theappliance for the first time or at any time the user requiresassistance. In one embodiment, the audible use and care guide can bealways accessible and activated by the user actuating a button on theappliance or voice activation via the audio communication accessory. Theuser can optionally interact with the audible use and care guide, suchas by asking questions or instructing the audible use and care guide toskip information not needed by the user. According to one embodiment,the audible use and care guide can implement multiple, selectable modesfor various use scenarios, such as whether the appliance is on the floorof a retail store as a sales demo, for a new appliance in the home, fora new user, or for an experienced user. The amount of information andlevel of detail in the information provided to the user can depend onthe experience of the user. The audible use and care guide can bedisabled if it becomes annoying or can be reconfigured.

The audio communication accessory can optionally include tactilefeedback, such as vibration, which can be especially useful for usershaving a hearing disability. The tactile feedback can be used inconjunction with or as an alternative to the audio communication. Theuser can wear or carry a portable device that provides the tactilefeedback.

Regardless of the type of accessory, the software architecture can beconfigured such that the accessory must present electronic credentials(i.e., authentication) before communicating with the appliance.Requiring the electronic credentials prevents unauthorized communicationbetween the accessory and the appliance, thereby avoiding undesirablecontrol of the appliance by the accessory.

FIG. 27 illustrates an appliance 1000 connected to external clients1002, 1004 and a second appliance 1006 by a plurality of networks. Afirst network 1030 comprises a first internal client 1010, a secondinternal client 1012 and the external client 1002. A second network 1050comprises the external client 1004. And a third network 1052 comprisesthe second appliance 1006. Each client is characterized as a node on therespective network. Local clients are clients that communicate withnodes on the same network. Remote clients are clients not directlycoupled to the same network as the node to which they are communicating.In this embodiment, external client 1004 would be a remote client of thenodes on the first network 1030.

Each client node 1002, 1004, 1010, 1012 comprises a softwarearchitecture driver (SA driver) 1016 for exchanging messages with anynode having a software architecture (SA) 1018 thereon. The nodes on anygiven network are in operable communication with the other nodes in thatnetwork and are optionally in communication with the nodes present onother networks.

The appliance 1000 further comprises at least one node 1020 having theSA thereon. The second appliance 1006 will also likely have a node withthe SA on it, and may have one or more clients as well. The firstnetwork 1030 also comprises the node 1020.

Couplers 1040, 1042 are special devices that connect to the applianceand/or to a network and/or to two or more networks and communicatetherebetween. Each coupler can comprise all the functionality of a node,and each node can comprise all of the functionality of a coupler. Inthis embodiment, the coupler 1040 couples the second network 1050 to thethird network 1052, and can function as a node on each network. Thecoupler 1042 couples the second network 1050 to the first network 1030.It could also be considered as coupled to the appliance 1000.

Either of the couplers 1040, 1042 can propagate discovery messagesissued by the SA or an SA driver across the networks in order to enablethe SA and SA drivers or their coupled arbitrary software components todevelop references to identifiers of functionality for the differentnodes. Each coupler 1040, 1042 can have a routing table stored in amemory for enabling communication between nodes on different networks.The memory can also store identifiers identifying the functionality ofeach node. The identifiers can be linked to the routing information heldwithin the routing tables so that when a message comprising anidentifier is sent to either of the couplers 1040, 1042, the couplerreceiving the message can send the message to the appropriate next node.

Each node can comprise a unique combination of software elements. Thesoftware elements on any given node include at least one of the SA andan SA driver. The SA driver enables a node to communicate with the SA.The SA inherently includes an SA driver or a variant of the SA Driver.Each node comprising the SA can communicate with other nodes comprisingthe SA. However, a node can have both the SA and separate SA driverthereon. Each node must also include a suitable communication protocolor communication protocol driver for the respective network type towhich it is coupled. An exemplary protocol is the WIDE network protocol1062, a proprietary appliance network protocol utilized by WhirlpoolCorporation. For a client not having WIDE network protocol that needs tocommunicate WIDE messages (e.g., external client 1004), a WIDE driver1064 can be used. A port driver 1072 couples the external client 1004 tothe network 1050.

Each node can also comprise an arbitrary software component 1060. Thecouplers 1040, 1042, for example, may not. The SA driver 1016 is asoftware element configured to allow an arbitrary software component tocommunicate with the SA 1018 over at least one network. An arbitrarysoftware component is any software component or subcomponent thatperforms a useful function. Examples include, but are not limited to, acommunication driver, an application, a user interface, a controlalgorithm, message routing, a control for an operational cycle, messagehandling, data storage, data transformation, data referencing, andsoftware that instructs other software. The SA driver 1016 can receiveand at least partially interpret messages from the SA and/or fromanother SA driver, which are specified as feedback events. In someinstances, the SA driver 1016 can also send command messages to the SA1018. In this respect, the external clients 1002, 1004 can have fullcapability act as an accessory to communicate with and to enhance oralter the operation of the appliance.

It will be understood that any or all of the external clients 1002,1004, the couplers 1040, 1042, and the internal clients 1010, 1012 canbe physical devices that have a processor, a memory, software,circuitry, and some source of power. In the general sense, they arecoupled to transmission media and are preferably configured to takeinformation from the memory and with the processor and the circuitry,produce a signal representing that information in the transmissionmedia. When the information includes an identifier in memory, the nodeor client is discoverable by other nodes connected via the transmissionmedia.

Discovery is a process by which a first node in communication with atleast one coupled network sends discovery messages to the network ornetworks. Discovery messages generally comprise at least some queryinformation specifying what the sender of the discovery message seeks.The information sought can be information such as another node, anappliance, a client, an arbitrary software component, a devicecomprising a node, a coupler, or one or more of a plurality of softwareelements on any node.

A discovery confirmation message is a reply message sent to the senderof a discovery message. Discovery reply messages typically compriseconfirmation information and identification information. Theconfirmation information is an acknowledgment in the form of a positiveor a negative response. The identification information is informationenabling the sender to send subsequent messages to that which has beendiscovered.

Where more than one network is connected by a coupler, such as couplers1040, 1042, a message received by the coupler from one network can bepropagated and sent to the second network. The coupler may create asecond separate message with the same information compatible for asecond network, but together, the first and the second messages areconsidered a single propagated message, even though they may beliterally two messages. A propagated discovery message, then, is adiscovery message that is propagated to a receiver. A coupler may beconfigured to inspect propagated messages to prevent propagation of acircular message, i.e, a sent message that is also unknowingly receivedby the sender on a second network to which the sender is coupled. Atleast the coupler 1040 may have a routing table including proxyidentifiers of the functionalities of the second node. As well, thecoupler 1042 may have a routing table including proxy identifiers. Adiscovery message sent by the node 1020 is received by the coupler 1042,which evaluates the message in accord with the routing table andpropagates the message to the next node, coupler 1040. Similarly, thecoupler 1040, evaluates the propagated message in light of the routingtable, and propagates the message to the next node in line, which may bethe second node.

See, for example, FIG. 28 illustrating a system where resources in anappliance can be monitored, managed, or changed as in the energycontroller accessory of FIG. 13. A likely scenario has a coupler 2000connected to an appliance 2002 by a network 2004. The coupler 2000 alsoconnects to a coupler 2006 via network 2008 that may be a different typeof network from network 2004. Coupler 2006 connects to a source 2010 ofinformation about resources used or generated by the appliance 2002 by athird network 2012 that may be a different type of network from eithernetwork 2004 or network 2008. Assume that the source 2010 wants to sendinformation about the resource to the appliance 2002. The inventionenables a node in the source 2010 on network 2012 to communicate with asecond node, having SA for example, which may be among several on theappliance 2002. We assume that the source 2010 has at least anappropriate communication driver, or one of the couplers has software totranslate any message from the source to the communication protocols ofthe incorporated PCT/US2006/022420, for example.

In this scenario, the source 2010 sends a discovery message over thenetwork 2012 seeking any consumer of resources to which the source wantsto send information. The coupler 2006 receives the discovery message,translates the message, if necessary, and propagates the discoverymessage to the next nodes over the network 2008, including coupler 2000.Coupler 2000 receives the discovery message, translates the message, ifnecessary, and propagates the discovery message to the next nodes overthe network, including the appliance 2002. The relevant nodes in theappliance 2002 evaluate the message and determine a discovery replymessage, and send respective replies. Here, we assume at least one replyis positive.

The discovery reply message is received by the coupler 2000, whichpopulates its routing table and sends it to the coupler 2006, whichpopulates its routing table and sends it to the source 2010 in accordwith the foregoing process. Each node retains the relevant identifiersso that subsequent message can be communicated without repeating thediscovery sequence. As well, those nodes with memory, such as thecouplers, can be configured to save messages.

With this structure, a source of information about a resource such aselectricity, hot water, gray water, gas, water, replaceable parts, orother consumables, can request a change in the operation of theappliance based on the information. For example, if an electric utilityis facing a brownout, a source of information about the electricity canrequest that an electric dryer not commence an operation for a period oftime. Similarly, a source of consumables, such as filters or spareparts, can ascertain from an appliance the status of the consumable andsend information about the timing and availability of replacement.

FIG. 29 illustrates an appliance 1000 connected to external clients1002, 1004 and a second appliance 1006 by a plurality of networks. Afirst network 1030 comprises a first internal client 1010, a secondinternal client 1012 and the external client 1002. A second network 1050comprises the external client 1004. And a third network 1052 comprisesthe second appliance 1006. Each client is characterized as a node on therespective network. Local clients are clients that communicate withnodes on the same network. Remote clients are clients not directlycoupled to the same network as the node to which they are communicating.In this embodiment, external client 1004 would be a remote client of thenodes on the first network 1030.

Each client node 1002, 1004, 1010, 1012 comprises a softwarearchitecture driver (SA driver) 1016 for exchanging messages with anynode having a software architecture (SA) 1018 thereon. The nodes on anygiven network are in operable communication with the other nodes in thatnetwork and are optionally in communication with the nodes present onother networks.

The appliance 1000 further comprises at least one node 1020 having theSA thereon. The second appliance 1006 will also likely have a node withthe SA on it, and may have one or more clients as well. The firstnetwork 1030 also comprises the node 1020.

Smart couplers 1040, 1042 are special devices that connect to theappliance and/or to a network and/or to two or more networks andcommunicate therebetween. Each smart coupler can comprise all thefunctionality of a node, and each node can comprise all of thefunctionality of a coupler. In this embodiment, the coupler 1040 couplesthe second network 1050 to the third network 1052, and can function as anode on each network. The smart coupler 1042 couples the second network1050 to the first network 1030. It could also be considered as coupledto the appliance 1000. A smart coupler can comprise a processor, memory(fixed and/or removable), software, components and circuitry coupled toat least one transmission media. The smart coupler is configured to takeinformation from the memory of its processor and, with the circuitry andcomponents, produce a signal representing that information onto atransmission media. A smart coupler can also comprise a source of power,a GFA sensor, an opto-isolation circuit, a converter circuit, aninterface expander 324, network health analyzing circuitry and software.

The smart coupler can be used to communicatively couple at least oneexternal client 170 to a network of the appliance 12 such that theexternal client 170 and the appliance 12 can exchange messagestherebetween. The external client 170 and the smart coupler can eachcomprise a network. If desired, multiple external clients 170 can becommunicatively coupled to the appliance 12 using one or more smartcouplers.

Either of the couplers 1040, 1042 can propagate discovery messagesissued by the SA or an SA driver across the networks in order to enablethe SA and SA drivers or their coupled arbitrary software components todevelop references to identifiers of functionality for the differentnodes. Each coupler 1040, 1042 can have a routing table stored in amemory for enabling communication between nodes on different networks.The memory can also store identifiers identifying the functionality ofeach node. The identifiers can be linked to the routing information heldwithin the routing tables so that when a message comprising anidentifier is sent to either of the couplers 1040, 1042, the couplerreceiving the message can send the message to the appropriate next node.

Each node can comprise a unique combination of software elements. Thesoftware elements on any given node include at least one of the SA andan SA driver. The SA driver enables a node to communicate with the SA.The SA inherently includes an SA driver or a variant of the SA Driver.Each node comprising the SA can communicate with other nodes comprisingthe SA. However, a node can have both the SA and separate SA driverthereon. Each node must also include a suitable communication protocolor communication protocol driver for the respective network type towhich it is coupled. An exemplary protocol is the WIDE network protocol1062, a proprietary appliance network protocol utilized by WhirlpoolCorporation. For a client not having WIDE network protocol that needs tocommunicate WIDE messages (e.g., external client 1004), a WIDE driver1064 can be used. A port driver 1072 couples the external client 1004 tothe network 1050.

Each node can also comprise an arbitrary software component 1060. The SAdriver 1016 is a software element configured to allow an arbitrarysoftware component to communicate with the SA 1018 over at least onenetwork. An arbitrary software component is any software component orsubcomponent that performs a useful function. Examples include, but arenot limited to, a communication driver, an application, a userinterface, a control algorithm, message routing, a control for anoperational cycle, message handling, data storage, data transformation,data referencing, and software that instructs other software. The SAdriver 1016 can receive and at least partially interpret messages fromthe SA and/or from another SA driver, which are specified as feedbackevents. In some instances, the SA driver 1016 can also send commandmessages to the SA 1018. In this respect, the external clients 1002,1004 can have full capability act as an accessory to communicate withand to enhance or alter the operation of the appliance.

It will be understood that any or all of the external clients 1002,1004, the couplers 1040, 1042, and the internal clients 1010, 1012 canbe physical devices that have a processor, a memory, software,circuitry, and some source of power. In the general sense, they arecoupled to transmission media and are preferably configured to takeinformation from the memory and with the processor and the circuitry,produce a signal representing that information in the transmissionmedia. When the information includes an identifier in memory, the nodeor client is discoverable by other nodes connected via the transmissionmedia.

Discovery is a process by which a first node in communication with atleast one coupled network sends discovery messages to the network ornetworks. Discovery messages generally comprise at least some queryinformation specifying what the sender of the discovery message seeks.The information sought can be information such as another node, anappliance, a client, an arbitrary software component, a devicecomprising a node, a coupler, or one or more of a plurality ofidentifiable software elements on any node.

A discovery confirmation message is a reply message sent to the senderof a discovery message. Discovery reply messages typically compriseconfirmation information and identification information. Theconfirmation information is an acknowledgment in the form of a positiveor a negative response. The identification information is informationenabling the sender to send subsequent messages to that which has beendiscovered. The identification information could be raw routinginformation or could be an identifier which could be used to pull rawrouting information out of a routing table. Further the identificationinformation could be an identifier used to get raw routing informationfrom a routing table and other functional identification information outof a routing table. With the ability to create routing tables either bythe method of propagated discovery or by a combination of propagateddiscovery and manual or semi-manual configuration, clients can establishuseful communications with other communicating nodes and can rely on thepropagated message and the routing table to enable the usefulcommunications without the arbitrary software components of the clientsto have knowledge of the routing information required to enable theuseful communication.

Where more than one network is connected by a smart coupler, such ascouplers 1040, 1042, a message received by the smart coupler from onenetwork can be propagated and sent to the second network. The smartcoupler may create a second separate message with the same informationcompatible for a second network, but together, the first and the secondmessages are considered a single propagated message, even though theymay be literally two messages. A propagated discovery message, then, isa discovery message that is propagated to a receiver. A coupler may beconfigured to inspect propagated messages to prevent propagation of acircular message, i.e, a sent message that is also received by thesender on a second network to which the sender is coupled. At least thesmart coupler 1042 may hold a routing table constructed from a pluralityof Discovery Confirmation Messages. In one embodiment, the routing tableholds identifiers from other nodes with each identifiers routinginformation. In a second embodiment, the routing table holds identifiersfrom other nodes with each identifier's routing information and with anew identifier that will be used to represent the identifiers from othernodes. The new identifier can be considered a proxy identifier.

Referring again to FIG. 21, a smart wireless coupler 122 comprises twosmart couplers, a first smart coupler with an wireless communicatingcomponent connected to the appliance 12, and a second smart coupler witha wireless communicating component in communication with the first smartcoupler and coupled to the external client 124, here a PC. Couplingoccurs via an appropriate communications protocol and circuitrycompatible with the external client 124. Additional examples of externalclients that can be used with the invention include other computers,specialized diagnostic devices, cell phones, PDAs, various diagnosticsensing apparatus, a source of information about a resource, a secondappliance, another smart coupler, a clock, an atomic clock, andconsumable reader, a cooking accessory, a cooking sensor, a cycle ofoperation accessory, a cooking utensil, an energy control, a smartlaundry card, a network binder, an audio accessory, a recipe bookinterface, a sales demo, a television, a smart dimmer, a smart outlet, auser interface, dongles, personal computer-based appliance controldevelopment tools, a factory testing application, a consumer field testdata collector, an interface to a connected home environment otherappliances, and any other device comprising a node configured tocommunicate usefully with an appliance. The smart coupler can be poweredvia its connection to the appliance 12 and/or the external client 124.

In an embodiment of the invention embodiment shown in FIG. 30, a smartcable 120 comprises a smart coupler 1042 enclosed within a length ofconduit with connectors 184 and 182 on either end. The smart cable 120includes wiring between at least one external device 170 and theappliance 12 by way of the smart coupler 1042, such that the externalclient 170 and the appliance 12 are able to exchange information via thesmart coupler 1042. Alternatively, the smart cable 120 can be hardwiredto a network having the external client 170 thereon. The smart cable 120can comprise any type of transmission line within the length of cablesuitable for the purposes described herein. The smart cable 120 cancomprise multiple types of cable and is preferably over-molded. Theadvantage of an over-molded cable is that it is a single article notsubject to inadvertent separation from its component functional parts.This will make the total cost of ownership less and will make thedistribution and testing of the smart cable 120 simpler. Examplesinclude but are not limited to multicore cable, twinax cable, ribboncable, optical fiber, twisted pair cable, dielectric slabs, or electricpower lines, or any combination thereof.

In another embodiment illustrated in FIG. 31, a smart cable 220comprises an appliance pigtail 222 and an external client pigtail 224with a smart coupler 1042 connected therebetween. Both the appliancepigtail 222 and the external client pigtail 224 comprise a length ofcable. The pigtails 222, 224 also include an appliance connector 282 andan external client connector 284 on their respective ends. Theconnectors 282, 284 are configured to communicatively couple the smartcable 120 to the appliance 12 and to the external client 170,respectively. The pigtails 222, 224 can be permanently coupled to thesmart coupler 1042 at ends opposite the connectors 282, 284.

Alternatively, as illustrated in FIG. 32, the pigtails 222, 224 can beremovably coupled to the smart coupler 1042 by connectors 288 at endsopposite the appliance connector 282 and the external client connector284, respectively. The smart device connectors 288 enable the pigtails222, 224 to be interchanged with other pigtails having smart deviceconnectors 288 on one end and different types of appliance connectors282 and external client connectors 284 on the other. This facilitatesconnection of the smart cable 220 to a plurality of different appliances12 and external devices 170.

Alternatively, appliance connector 182 or 282 can be coupled to a smartconnector [defined below] for the purpose of coupling the smart cables182 or 282 or a smart wireless coupler to an internal communicating nodeof the appliance not directly compatible with the interface provided forby 182 or 282.

The smart cables 120, 220 can be different types of cables in order toaccommodate different transmission standards employed by differentappliances 12 and external devices 170. For example, if the externaldevice 170 connected to the smart cable 120, 220 uses two-wire cable,and the appliance 12 connected to the smart cable 120, 220 uses one-wirecable, the smart cable 120, 220 can comprise a one-wire portion of cableand a two-wire portion of cable with a suitable converter therebetween.Alternatively, the appliance 12, the external client 170, or the smartcoupler 1042 can comprise a suitable converter for transmitting messagesbetween different types of transmission lines.

Preferably, a conventional opto-isolation circuit for providingseparation between the electrical networks of the coupled devices 12 and170 is included in some portion of the apparatus comprising the smartcable 120, 220 and any smart connectors interposed between the client170 and the appliance 12. Opto-isolation requires a 2 wire communicationconfiguration, so preferably, the opto-isolator is provided in theportion of the apparatus where there is 2 wire communications. Theopto-isolation circuit electrically isolates the appliance 12 from thesmart cable 120, 220. A grid friendly appliance sensor (a type offrequency sensor—see discussion below) can also be included in the smartcoupler 1040, the appliance 12, or any another node in communication onthe network. The grid friendly appliance sensor instructs the appliance12 when the AC Voltage frequency falls below a given threshold. Anexemplary threshold is a lower threshold of 59.95 Hertz; when themonitored frequency falls below 59.95 Hertz, various loads of theappliance can be instructed or requested to turn off. A softwarecomponent configured to respond to resource-related commands willdetermine the appropriate response to the information provided by thegrid friendly sensor. Generally, the software component configured torespond to a resource-related command will not compromise the appliancecycle of operation with respect to any consumer benefit.

The smart coupler 1042 can be used as the primary smart component withinseveral embodiments. For example, it is the smart component within thesmart cable 120, 220. It can also be operated in a “stand alone” mode.In the stand alone mode, the smart coupler, 1042 can be connected toonly one of the appliance 12 and the external client 170. The smartcoupler, 1042 can receive power from the external client 170 or theappliance 12 in the stand alone mode or it can be powered by anauxiliary power source, which will be discussed in more detailhereinafter. The smart coupler 1042 is also the primary smart componentwithin the embodiments of FIGS. 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, and 34.

Looking now at FIG. 35, the smart coupler 607 can also provideinformation to any software component configured to respond to resourcerelated commands with respect to certain standard energy informationsignals when it is in communication with a source of information about aresource 600. Such software component can reside on the smart coupleritself, in the appliance 12, in smart coupler 604, in client 600 and/orin device 616. An example of a source of information about a resourcewould be a power utility that would be in communication with a smartcoupler. The signals can include but are not limited to a demandresponse (DR) signal instructing a component of the appliance 12 toreduce consumption of the resource, a signal indicating time-of-usepricing of the resource (TOU pricing), a critical peak pricing of theresource (CPP) signal indicating a significant short-term price increasedue to demand exceeding supply or inability of the power grid to handlehigh-energy demands, a signal specifying real-time pricing (RTP), andcritical peak rebate (CPR) signals indicating a rebate for reducedconsumption at a given time. The software component configured torespond to a resource related command can reside in the smart coupler1042, in the appliance 12, in the source of information about a resource600, in a second appliance, or in any other node in communication withthe smart coupler.

Referring again to FIGS. 30-33, the smart coupler 1042 or smart wirelesscoupler can also include authentication and encryption capabilities.Authentication serves to validate the connected appliance 12 and/orexternal client 170, and/or applications included on the applianceand/or on the external client 170. Encryption acts as a key to unlockand expose the appropriate services to the connected appliance 12,external client 170, or application and prevents the unauthorized use ofservices which are not exposed and not intended for use by anon-authenticated appliance, external client, or application. The smartcoupler 1040 or the smart wireless coupler (see FIG. 21) can includespecial, proprietary electronics that enable communication between theappliance 12 and the external client 170. As a result, unauthorizedpersons who do not have the smart cable 120, 220 or smart wirelesscoupler cannot couple an unauthorized external client 170 with theappliance.

Any of the connectors 182, 184, 282, 284, 288 or an appliance connectionelement 400 can be a smart connector. A smart connector is a wired orwireless connector that has specialized circuitry, structuraladaptations, hardware, and/or software that provide additionalfunctionality beyond that of a conventional connector. Conventionalconnectors are passive devices that do not modify or examine the packetssent therethrough. The function of a conventional connection is toelectrically mate the pins of one connector to the corresponding socketsof another connector. In addition to the conventional function of aconnector, smart connectors can incorporate one-wire to two-wireconversion, other types of conversion, level shifting of the electricalsignals, power management functionalities, protocol translation,opto-isolation, authentication, encryption, mechanical adaptations orany combination thereof. A smart connector can be more or lesspermanently connected to an appliance. Smart connectors can be ganged ordaisy chained together to provide a composite function from a collectionof functions comprised by each individual smart connector. Powermanagement functionalities can include AC/DC conversion and the abilityto control the amount of power drawn through the smart connector. Smartconnectors can also be designed so as to expose additional networks orother points of connectivity; for example, a smart connector can have afirst connection point designed to accept a smart cable 120, 220 as wellas a second connection point designed to accept a second cable of aspecialized diagnostic device. Preferably, the appliance connectionelement 400 is a smart connector (see FIGS. 33A and 400).

For example, the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 33 comprises a smartwireless coupler 290 coupled to a smart cable 296. The smart wirelesscoupler 290 comprises a first wireless communicating component 292communicatively coupled to an external client 170 and a secondcommunicating component 294 in communication with the firstcommunicating component 292 and communicatively coupled to a smartcoupler 1042 of the smart cable 296. The smart cable 296 comprises thesmart coupler 1042 and an appliance pigtail 299 similar to the appliancepigtail 222. The appliance pigtail 299 communicatively couples the smartdevice 180 to the appliance 12.

Looking now to FIG. 34, the smart coupler 1042 comprises amicroprocessor 320 having at least one arbitrary software componentstored in the memory thereon. The arbitrary software component can be anapplication or driver stored in memory thereon and accessible by anyexternal clients 170 or other appliances connected to the smart coupler1040. Preferably, the arbitrary software component comprises at least adriver for enabling communication between the smart coupler 1042 and asecond device coupled to a network on which coupler 1040 is alsocoupled. An exemplary arbitrary software component is an SA driver.Referring now to FIG. 27, client 1004 can establish minimal functionalcommunications with smart coupler 1042 as long as 1004 is configuredwith the proper port driver 1072. Further, SA driver 1016 or a usefulapplication such as a Service and Diagnostic Software Application in theform of an Arbitrary Software Component 1060 can be automatically sentto or loaded by client 1004 from the memory of smart coupler 1042. Inthis way, a smart coupler can enable connected clients to installsoftware components necessary of full functional communications from thesmart couplers with which they are connected, or conversely, the smartcoupler can install the software on the client. Likewise, a smartcoupler can use the internet connection of its connected clients toretrieve new arbitrary software components for its own internaloperation or for further distribution to other any other coupled clients170 or any appliances 12. The smart coupler 1042 can further compriseany number of additional arbitrary software components.

Looking again at FIG. 34, the microprocessor 320 can include any numberof elements common to microprocessors, such as ROM, RAM, on-chip flashmemory, transistors, and various communication buses. The smart coupler1042 further includes analyzing circuitry and software that monitorsphysical signals associated with the circuitry coupled to at least onetransmission media. This feature can be useful during the diagnosisprocess because the client 1004,124 can check the health of 1030 beforecommencing any useful diagnosis processes requiring communications withAppliance 1000, 12.

The smart coupler 1040 can further comprise an alternate power source332, an interface expander 324, a variable display 326 enabled todisplay licensable content simultaneous with indications about theinformation relating to the smart coupler 1040 and information aboutdevices with which it is in communication with, and a removable memory330. The smart coupler 1040 can be powered via connection to theexternal client 170 and/or the appliance 12. When in “stand alone” mode,or at a user's selection, the smart coupler 1040 can also be powered bythe alternate power source 332, which can be electrically isolated fromthe appliance 12 and/or the external client 170. The alternate powersource 332 can be a battery. The alternate power source 332 can also bea connection to another power source, such as a wall transformer thatcan be plugged into a conventional electrical outlet.

The interface expander 324 comprises a plurality of ports 336 forenabling the microprocessor 320 to communicatively couple with aplurality of additional external auxiliary sources of information. Eachport 336 can be configured by a port configuration tool 338 in order tocommunicate with the plurality of external auxiliary sources ofinformation having their own physical connection and protocolrequirements. The port configuration tool 338 can reside on a PC andcouple to the smart coupler 1042 via 284 (for example). The importanceof the port configuration tool is that it allows the interface expander324 pin definitions to be redefined by the client 170,1004Alternatively, the port configuration tool 338 can be stored in thememory of the smart coupler 1042 and for uploading by or installing onthe client 170, 1004.

The removable memory 330 can also be used to configure the interfaceexpander 324 by using an external client 170 having the portconfiguration tool 338 thereon to write instructions to the removablememory 330. Once the removable memory 330 is connected to the smartdevice 180, the microprocessor 320 can read the instructions on theremovable memory 330 and configure the ports 336 accordingly. Examplesof the different pin configurations on the interface expander 324include but are not limited to a general purpose input/output, a powerport, a wireless port, a USB port, a serial ports like SCI, SPI or RX,TX, a ground, an analog-to-digital converter port, a plurality ofBoolean IO Points, analog inputs and outputs configured in the form of0-5 Vdc, +/−10 Vdc, 4-20 ma, PWM outputs. The removable memory 330 canalso be used with the smart coupler 1042 to deliver upgrades, deliverapplications, store data and event logs, deliver and store data about acycle structure, deliver and store information about a resource, deliverdrivers or other applications to an external client 170, hold data aboutmessages, hold data to populate a routing table, and hold data aboutconsumables. The display 326 can visually convey information about thestatus of the smart coupler to a user. An exemplary display can consistof tri-color LED lights that produce different patterns depending on thestatus of the smart coupler. The display 326 can also include anilluminated image depicting a brand name, logo, or other indiciaassociated with the appliance.

The interface expander 324 can be configured to couple to any electronicperipheral including sensors, data sources, and auxiliary communicatingnodes. An auxiliary wireless device 350 can be coupled to the interfaceexpander 324 when it is properly configured. It is anticipated that whensmart coupler 1042, receives a propagated message, smart coupler willpropagate the message to the networks to which its coupled including anynetwork configured to receive the propagated message that is incommunication to the smart coupler 1042 coupled to the smart coupler1042 via the interface expander 324.

Referring now to FIG. 35A, the smart coupler 607 is directly coupled toappliance connection element 400 on the appliance 12 in a direct mountconfiguration. In this embodiment, smart coupler 1042 further has asmart auxiliary wireless communicating component 350 coupled to thesmart coupler 607 via the interface expander 324. In this embodiment theinterface expander 324 has at least some of its pins configured asgeneral purpose input Booleans with an associated component of softwareconfigured to receive messages from a source 600 of information about aresource. In this embodiment, the path of the messages is between thesource 600 of information about a resource and a first coupler 604, thenbetween the first coupler 604 and the smart auxiliary wirelesscommunicating component 350 which acts as a second coupler. Then themessaging passes between the smart auxiliary wireless communicatingcomponent 350 and the smart coupler 607 directly mounted to theAppliance 12, where the transmission media coupling smart auxiliarywireless communicating component 350 to the smart coupler 607 is theBoolean or Binary network provided by the interface expander 324. Theadvantage of this network, optimally configured for resource messages,is that it allows a decoupling point between two complex halves of thenetwork where the first half comprises componentry from the source 600up to the interface of the interface expander 324, and the second halfcomprising the interface expander 324 through the appliance 12. As theconfiguration of the interface expander 324 in this embodiment isexceedingly simple, the information contract comprising theaforementioned exemplary energy management signals (DR, TOU, and thelike) is most easily and rapidly described, promoted, and adopted.Further, the information contract is advantageous when the messagingarchitecture and protocols implemented by the smart couplers incommunication on either side of that contract are different from oneanother, and where the dissimilarities of the differences aresignificant from one region of the country to the next or one type ofappliance coupler to the next, and so on.

The appliance connection element 400 provides access to an internalnetwork 402 of the appliance 12 as is illustrated in FIG. 36. Theinternal network 402 connects the various internal components 404 of theappliance 12. The appliance connection element 400 can connect to anyinternal component 404 of the appliance, such as a control board, or itcan connect directly to the internal network 400. The applianceconnection element 400 can be a standardized connection elementintegrated into all appliances manufactured by a particular company, orit can be a specialized connection element unique to certain models ofappliances. A single instance of an appliance 12 typically comprisesmultiple various and different embodiments of the connection element 400where there is at least one connection element on each node 404 incommunication with the network 402 and at least one additionalconnection element 400 for connecting external clients such as a smartcoupler 1042.

Referring now to FIG. 36, an appliance connection element 400 can be aconventional connector or it can be a smart connector. It can beconfigured to facilitate communication between the appliance 12 and thesmart coupler 1042. If the appliance connection element 400 is notstructured to receive the desired connector on the smart coupler 1042, asuitable connector adapter can be used, e.g., a conventional connectoror a smart connector. In this way, the smart cable 120, 220 or a smartcoupler 1042, or the ‘Appliance Half’ of the smart wireless coupler canbe connected to any appliance connection element 400 by using a suitableconnector adapter. An example would be a converter dongle that plugsinto the appliance connection element 400 and provides a suitable portfor receiving the connector 282 or 182 (see FIGS. 28-31). Anotherexample is an adapter comprising a length of cable with connectors ateach end configured to couple to the smart coupler and to the appliance12, respectively. Adapters and smart connectors can also be used tocommunicatively couple the external device 170 with the smart coupler.Preferably, an appliance comprises a appliance connection element 400configured as a Smart Connector and further configured to receiveexternal clients either by a direct mount or by a length of cable andfurther configured to receive external clients installed by the consumerwithout uninstalling the appliance 12 and without, or withoutsignificant tool usage.

FIG. 35 illustrates a system where resources in the appliance or anyother resource consuming device configured for communication can bemonitored, managed, or changed as in the energy controller accessory ofFIG. 13. The energy controller accessory can stand alone or beincorporated into any element of the system. A likely scenario has asmart coupler 607 directly mounted and connected to the appliance 12 bya network 608. The network 608 can be a WIDE network as describedpreviously herein. The smart coupler 607 also connects to a connectingelement 604 via a second network 606 that can be a different type ofnetwork from network 608. The connecting element 604 can be a secondsmart coupler, a smart connector, or a conventional connector. Ifnetwork 602 is a different type of network from network 606, theconnecting element 604 is a smart coupler or a smart connector havingprotocol conversion capabilities. An example of the network 606 is awireless Zigbee network and an example of the network 602 is theInternet.

Smart coupler 604 connects to a source of information about at least oneresource 600 generated or used by the appliance 12 and/or by a differentkind of resource consuming device 616 such as a light switch, ceilingfan, water heater, or the like. The connection between the smart coupler604 and the source 600 is by a third network 602 that can be a differenttype of network from either network 608 or network 606. Assume that thesource 600 wants to send information about at least one resource to theappliance 12 or to the device 616. The information can include a requestfor a change in the operation of the appliance 12 based on theinformation. The resource can be electricity, hot water, gray water,gas, water, replaceable parts, or other consumables. The source 600 cansend information about multiple resources if desired. The inventionenables a source of information about a resource 600 in effectivecommunication with consumers of the resource to affect the level ofconsumption of that resource. Preferably, the source 600 of informationabout a resource is communicatively coupled to the network 602 tocommunicate with a second node, having SA for example, which may beamong several on the appliance 12 or on the device 616. We assume thatthe source 600 has at least an appropriate communication driver, or oneof the smart coupler 607 and the connecting element 604 has software totranslate any message from the source 600 to the communication protocolsof the incorporated PCT/US2006/022420, for example.

In this scenario, the source 600 sends a discovery message over thenetwork 602 seeking any consumer of resources to which the source 600wants to send information. The connecting element 604 receives thediscovery message, translates the message, if necessary, and propagatesthe discovery message to the next nodes over the network 606, includingthe smart coupler 607 and devices 616. Coupler 607 receives thediscovery message, translates the message, if necessary, and propagatesthe discovery message to the next nodes over the network 608, includingthe appliance 12. The relevant nodes in the appliance 12 evaluate themessage and determine a discovery reply message, and send respectivediscovery confirmation messages. Here, we assume at least one reply ispositive.

The discovery confirmation message is received by the smart coupler 607,which populates its routing table with routing information about thereplying nodes and with identifiers about the replying nodes and sendsat least one identifier representing the information in the its routingtable to the connecting element 604, which populates its routing tablepreferably using the same technique as 607 and sends at least oneidentifier representing the information in the its routing table tosource 600 in accord with the foregoing process. Each node retains therelevant identifiers so that subsequent message can be communicatedwithout repeating the discovery sequence. As well, those nodes withmemory, such as the couplers, can be configured to save messages.

The functionality described above can be extended to communicateinformation from the source 600 to an additional device 616 connected tothe network 606 by a network 212. The device 616 can be an additionalappliance 12 or other device that is configured to utilize informationfrom the source 600.

With this structure, if an electric utility is facing a brownout, forexample, a source of information about the electricity can send ageneral message asking for resource consumption reduction to theplurality of communicating nodes which had previously positivelyresponded to the first discovery message sent from 600. The generalmessage is propagated by the plurality of smart couplers coupled to 600via the network 602 or other networks to which 600 is coupled.Similarly, a source of consumables, such as filters or spare parts, canascertain from an appliance the status of the consumable and sendinformation about the timing and availability of replacement.

In certain embodiments, there could be a first appliance with agraphical user interface coupled to a smart coupler in communicationwith a source of information about a resource. The first appliance couldalso be in communication with a second appliance via at least one smartcoupler. The second appliance does not have a graphical user interface.A user of the first appliance could input a parameter into the graphicaluser interface, such as a price threshold at which the user would preferto reduce the level of consumption of a resource. This parameter couldbe stored in the memory of a node in first appliance, in the memory of asmart coupler in communication therewith, or in the memory of the sourceof information about a resource. When a message is received from thesource of information about a resource, the software componentconfigured to respond to information about a resource can use theparameter to determine the response to the information about a resource.The response could be to change the operation of the appliance to reducea level of resource consumption. The response could also include sendingmessage to the second appliance. The message to the second appliancecould either be a command to reduce a level of resource consumption or amessage to a second software component configured to respond to theinformation about a resource. Further, information about the response tothe information about a resource can be displayed on the graphical userinterface, and the information about the response can come from thefirst and/or the second appliance.

It should be noted that using discovery messages to populate routingtables is the preferred embodiment. However, routing tables can also bepopulated using conventional configuration methods involving a manual orsemi-manual configuration process. In addition, a manual or semi-manualconfiguration process can be used in addition to discovery generatedrouting tables. In this approach, the discovery process or theconfiguration process can incrementally add or delete routinginformation within a routing table.

As illustrated in FIG. 36, a smart coupler 1042 can be communicativelycoupled to the appliance 12, an external client 170 in the form of adiagnostic PC, and a source 500 of information about operation of theappliance 12 so that failures or other problems in the appliance 12 canbe diagnosed, monitored, and/or resolved. The smart coupler 1042, whichcould be a smart cable 120, 220, is communicatively coupled to a network402 of the appliance 12 via connection element 400. The smart coupleralso connects to the source 500 directly via the interface expander port324 or via an auxiliary wireless or wired communicating componentcoupled to the smart coupler via the interface expander port 324 and viaa wired or wireless communicating component 360 (see FIG. 33A). Thewireless communicating component 360 can be any arbitrary wireless orwired communicating component able to establish communications with thewired or wireless communicating component coupled to the interfaceexpander port 324.

The source 500 connects to the appliance 12 in a manner enabling thesource 500 to obtain information about at least one operationalparameter or measured value associated with the operation of theappliance 12, e.g., direct connection 505. Exemplary operationalparameters include power consumption, temperature, data about the cycleof operation, vibration, noise, and the like. The source 500 cancommunicate with the network 402 to send information about at least oneoperational parameter of the appliance 12 to the smart coupler and/ordiagnostic PC. Alternatively, the source 500 is not in communicationwith the network 402 and monitors at least one operational parameter ofthe appliance 12 by other means. For example, if the appliance 12 is aconventional washing machine, the source 500 can be in communicationwith an accelerometer attached to the exterior of the washing machinefor monitoring vibrations, which enables the detection of an imbalancein the washing machine.

The source 500 can communicate with the smart coupler, the appliance 12,the diagnostic PC, or any combination thereof. We assume that the source500 has at least an appropriate communication driver, or at least one ofthe smart coupler, the appliance 12, and the diagnostic PC has softwareto translate any message from the source 500 to the communicationprotocols of the incorporated PCT/US2006/022420, for example. It shouldbe understood that the functionality employed by the source 500 caninclude functional identifiers which can be discovered throughpropagated messages by any node in communication therewith.

If the appliance 12 experiences a failure that requires a service personto visit the appliance 12 in the home, the service person can couple aPC or other portable computing device to the appliance 12 to diagnosethe problem using at least one of the smart cable 120,220 or using thesmart wireless coupler, or by using a service key, or by using a centralcollector. Problems can be diagnosed by sending low-level commands tothe appliance from the PC instructing various components in theappliance to turn on or off and/or change their operating parameters.One exemplary way of accomplishing this is by using multiple modes ofoperation as disclosed in the incorporated PCT/US2006/022420, wherebythe client puts at least one software operating layer into a differentmode, and the different mode configures the software architecture toreceive and act on a different set of messages that provides a differentset of functionalities to the external client. Information from thesource 500 regarding the operation of the appliance 12 can then beexamined in order to see if the instructions from the PC have resultedin a predictable outcome. For example, in order to test a heatingelement in an oven, the PC would send a command to the oven instructingthe heating element to turn on. A measured temperature of an oven cavityhaving the heating element therein can be sent to the PC by the source500 or from componentry (including a smart cable) connected to or incommunication with internal components 404 or preferably both. Thisinformation can be used to determine whether the heating element isfunctioning properly and heating the oven cavity to a desiredtemperature.

Information from the source 500 can also cause the PC or any otherelement in the system to prompt a user at a user interface to choose atleast one component 404 to be turned off in the appliance 12, or to takesome other action. A user can also enter default actions at the userinterface to be taken in response to the receipt of certain informationfrom the source 500. For example, a user can configure the heatingelement to turn off if the source 500 notifies the system that thetemperature of the oven cavity is dangerously high.

Alternatively, the failure code can be sent directly to the appliance 12to turn off a low-priority component 404. Failure codes can also be sentto the smart coupler, which can use the processor 320 to analyze thecode and generate appropriate instructions to be sent to the appliance12.

Other embodiments of a network binder are shown in FIGS. 37 and 38. InFIG. 38, the network binder 200 comprises a powered fob 202 having firstand second buttons 204, 206, a visual indicator 208 such as an LED, anda graphical interface 210, such as a small LCD screen, with navigationbuttons 212. The fob 202 is configured to communicate wirelessly, and torecognize the identifiers of any network within which the fob is inproximity. When a user moves the fob 202 within the proximity of anetwork node to which it can establish communication, the LED willilluminate to indicate the existence of a communicable node. The networkbinder will automatically retrieve information about the node and thenetwork.

The user can press the first button 204 to cause the graphical interface210 to display basic information from the node. Relevant basicinformation can comprise a plurality of network ID's on which the nodeis currently connected, the addresses of the node on a plurality ofnetworks, where each network is identified by its own network ID, and/ora plurality of user-friendly names of the node on the plurality ofnetworks. The navigation buttons 212 enable scrolling if the informationis too much to display on a single screen.

The user interface 210 can also be configured to display identificationand information about networks that the network binder has thus farconfigured, including the nodes for each network and relevantinformation about each.

The network binder 200 functions to set a new additional network ID intoa node on an existing network and thus establish a new, private networkapart from any existing network. This is completely different from theapparatus used for binding networks in such technologies as wi-fi orZigbee®. Here, the inventive technique is at a minimum, “one-click”binding while in proximity with a node. Once the user identifies a nodefor placing into the private network, the user can select from aplurality of network IDs and press the second button 206. Pressingbutton 206 causes the network binder 200 to send a special networkmessage to the selected node within proximity to receive a privatenetwork ID. When the identified node receives the network ID, it cansend a message to the private network corresponding to the privatenetwork ID to establish useful communications with other nodes havingthe same private network ID.

The network binder 200 also has a connector port 214 that would enableconnection to a personal computer configuration utility. One benefit ofthe connection port 212 is to enable firmware updates to the networkbinder 200. It is to be understood that any or even most of thefunctionality of the network is optional. For example one may not wantor need the graphical user interface 210, the navigation buttons 212, ortwo buttons. At a minimum, one would normally want an indicator toindicate when one is within proximity of a network node and a button tosend signal indicative of the private network ID. The entire networkbinder 200 could be made with minimal functionally, or if provided theaforementioned features, some or all of the features could be disabled,to be later re-enabled by possessing a key or a firmware upgrade.Additionally, optional functionalities could reside in a connected pcutility.

FIG. 38 shows a modification of the network binder of FIG. 29, whereidentical components bear the same references. Here, the only differenceis in the visual indicator 208 which comprises a display of licensedinformation 216 such as a trademark. Preferably the licensed informationwill illuminate when the network binder comes within proximity of a nodeon a network.

FIG. 39 discloses a smart circuit attenuator 500 according to theinvention. Power enters the smart circuit attenuator 500 at input 502and exits the smart circuit attenuator 500 at output 504. The smartcircuit attenuator 500 has the capacity to attenuate the current throughthe dimmer and thereby provide reduced power to an appliance or otherdevice (e.g., lights, fans, etc.) connected to the power output 504, aswell as the capacity to reduce the power drawn at the input 502 andthereby reduce overall consumption. Conventional dimmers use a rheostatto reduce voltage and thereby reduce power output, but do not reduceoverall power consumption because the excess power from the input islost as heat. The smart circuit attenuator 500 accomplishes both currentlimiting through a load and power limiting throughout a circuit.

The smart circuit attenuator 500 comprises a triac 506 that effectivelyreduces current flow through the circuit depending on the firing angleof the signal that triggers the triac. A processor 508 is configured tosignal the triac 506 by changing the firing angle as at A, turning thetriac off as at B, or pulsing the triac as at C. The smart circuitattenuator 500 will further comprise a frequency sensor 510, sometimescalled a GFA sensor. The frequency sensor 510 signals a value related tothe line frequency to the processor 508, and when the frequency valuefalls below a predetermined threshold, the processor will, if enabled bya user, send one of the signals A or B to the triac 506. The processor508 can be powered by line current through a transformer 512, where theline current is split before the triac 506.

A communication module 514 in the smart circuit attenuator 500 enablescommunication with a network, wired or wirelessly via a port 516, and isconnected to the processor 508. The smart circuit attenuator 50 canreceive, using its communication capabilities with a client, signalsthat tell the processor 508 or otherwise enable the processor todetermine what signal, if any, to send to the triac 506. Thecommunication module 514 can also report back to the client presumablyregistered for notification (for example an appliance user interface,remote user interface, a TV, or any of the clients disclosed herein)with an updated status. The updated status can include an identifier,identifying the actual smart circuit attenuator and differentiating itfrom other nodes on the network.

The smart circuit attenuator will normally have a memory associated withthe processor 508. Through its communications module 514, the smartcircuit attenuator 500 can hold in its memory information about aresource. The smart circuit attenuator 500 can communicate otherinformation about a resource to allow a determination about the resourceto be made. That determination can be made in the smart circuitattenuator 500 or it can be made in a client of the dimmer. The smartcircuit attenuator can implement the software architecture disclosed inincorporated International Patent Application No. PCT/US2006/022420, ora related client communications interface.

A meter 518 is provided in the line after the triac 506 to measure powerfrom the triac and send a signal indicative of the measured power to theprocessor as at D. This enables the smart circuit attenuator 500 toperiodically check for continuity in the load circuit. It can do so bycontinually monitoring the power measured by the meter 518. It can alsodo a diagnostic test by firing the triac 506 for a few cycles to see ifthere is measured power from the meter 518. Where there is power at themeter, there is continuity in the circuit.

An interface 520 connected to the processor 508 might include suchfeatures as a visual indicator (e.g., an LED) to show status of thedimmer, a manual override switch to override the automatic built-infunctions, a dimming set level, and the like. The interface 520 enablesthe smart circuit attenuator to report a malfunctioning device that isno longer drawing power through the dimmer (e.g., a burnt out bulb)locally. The report can also be transmitted remotely to a client (e.g.,a refrigerator, oven, or micro-wave) via the communication module 514.Communications can be effected to a different kind of user interface ona PC connected to the interface 520 or displayed to a TV or as a textmessage on a cell phone.

Licensable information can be displayed in the visual indicator of theinterface 520 to differentiate the product from competition, and toprovide an emotional connection between the consumer, the product, andthe brand promise delivered through the product.

The communication module 514 can also have a component to couple theprocessor 508 to a network. The communication module 514 will likelyestablish communications with a second coupler in communications with asource of information about a resource, or a second coupler incommunication with another user interface, or a second coupler incommunication with an energy controller as disclosed elsewhere herein.

The smart circuit attenuator 500 can be added to a private network by anetwork binder (disclosed elsewhere herein), or by discoveryautomatically on power-up. As well, the smart circuit attenuator 500 canexchange propagated messages with a source of information about aresource, or contribute information to a coupler which aggregates theinformation from other devices and sends that information to a source ofinformation about a resource. Here, the normal resource relevant tocontrol by the smart circuit attenuator will be electricity.

While the invention has been specifically described in connection withcertain specific embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that thisis by way of illustration and not of limitation, and the scope of theappended claims should be construed as broadly as the prior art willpermit.

What is claimed is:
 1. A power reducing system comprising: a smartcoupler having a processor, a memory, a power source to energize theprocessor and the memory, and a software component in one of the memoryand processor, wherein the software component has a routing table and aprotocol converter; at least one appliance configured to perform a cycleof operation on a physical article, wherein the at least one applianceuses electric current in performing the cycle of operation, the at leastone appliance in network communication with the smart coupler using afirst protocol, a source of electric current to the at least oneappliance in network communication with the smart coupler, a source ofinformation about the electric current in network communication with thesmart coupler using a second protocol, and a smart circuit attenuatorhaving a power input connected to the source of electric current, apower output connected to the at least one appliance, a softwarecontrolled component configured to attenuate the electric current to alevel other than zero, a communication module coupling the softwarecontrolled component to the network using the first protocol, aprocessor, and software in the attenuator's processor configured tocause the software controlled component to respond to a network requestto reduce electric current, wherein the smart coupler is configured toconvert network messages between the first and second protocols,propagate discovery queries over the network from the source ofinformation, populate the routing table from responses to discoveryqueries from the source of information, and facilitate communicationwith the communication module in the smart circuit attenuator includinga network request from the source of information to reduce electriccurrent, and wherein the software controlled component attenuates theelectric current to the at least one appliance in response to thenetwork request.
 2. The power reducing system of claim 1 wherein thesmart coupler is configured to collect data from the smart circuitattenuator.
 3. The power reducing system of claim 1 wherein thecommunication module provides an updated status associated with thesmart circuit attenuator to the smart coupler.
 4. The power reducingsystem of claim 3 wherein the status comprises an identifier.
 5. Thepower reducing system of claim 1 wherein the smart coupler and the smartcircuit attenuator each comprise a network identifier.
 6. The powerreducing system of claim 1 wherein the at least one appliance is one ofa water heater, a light, a fan, or a dumb device.
 7. The power reducingsystem of claim 1 wherein the smart circuit attenuator has one of afrequency sensor, a communication port, a communication module,software, a meter to measure power or a power factor, an interface, avisual indicator, and a network identifier.
 8. The power reducing systemof claim 1 wherein the smart circuit attenuator has an interface whereinthe interface has one of a status indicator, an override switch, and adimming control.
 9. The power reducing system of claim 1 wherein thesmart circuit attenuator has a visual indicator wherein the visualindicator can display brand information.
 10. The power reducing systemof claim 1 wherein the software controlled component is a triac.